Best Sunblock for Surfers???

[gulfsurfer]

mmmmm coconut....

[Brent]

Forgive me for raising this whole "organic" issue, we understand the skin is our largest organ and it absorbs all we put on it...basically it's like a big tounge...correct?
So, can someone please explain to me why you get all wound up about a bit of natural moisturiser or sunblock when you all wash your clothes in strong cold-water chemical detergents and fabric softners and then wear them against your skin, why you sleep on sheets washed in same, why you females apply chemical makeup to your face & near your tear-ducts (eye liner), why you eat your food off plates & cutlery washed in strong chemical detergents, why you shampoo & condition your hair with chemical compounds, why you use purchased soap with many chemical additives to smell nice, why many of you eat a fairly large amount of processed foods (and I'm taking anything other than 100% organic here) why you drink anything other than rain water, to me it's all abit twee.

Going the "oh no, it's got to be natural" is like re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic...you live in a society surrounded in chemicals and you absorb everything that passes or comes into contact with your skin.....so a bit of natural aloe vera makes any difference ?????
Apart from smell nice & make you feel better about yourselves...

This is my point.
Of course Roy you do none of the above. You live in a bubble.

[deathfrog]

I just find it more fun to use the aloe vera plant itself. :D

[Roy Stewart]

Forgive me for raising this whole "organic" issue, we understand the skin is our largest organ and it absorbs all we put on it...basically it's like a big tounge...correct?
So, can someone please explain to me why you get all wound up about a bit of natural moisturiser or sunblock when you all wash your clothes in strong cold-water chemical detergents and fabric softners and then wear them against your skin, why you sleep on sheets washed in same, why you females apply chemical makeup to your face & near your tear-ducts (eye liner), why you eat your food off plates & cutlery washed in strong chemical detergents, why you shampoo & condition your hair with chemical compounds, why you use purchased soap with many chemical additives to smell nice, why many of you eat a fairly large amount of processed foods (and I'm taking anything other than 100% organic here) why you drink anything other than rain water, to me it's all abit twee.

Going the "oh no, it's got to be natural" is like re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic...you live in a society surrounded in chemicals and you absorb everything that passes or comes into contact with your skin.....so a bit of natural aloe vera makes any difference ?????
Apart from smell nice & make you feel better about yourselves...

This is my point.
Of course Roy you do none of the above. You live in a bubble.

Brent, you are correct in saying that none of my family use washing detergent, fabric softeners, or chemical makeup. Nor do we use detergent to wash our dishes or our hair. . or use soap with 'chemical' additives.

Regarding 'processed' foods, we use flour, bran, yeast, milkpowder, molasses, butter, and wheatgerm. These are processed but we avoid all food containing preservatives, colours, chemical flavours or sugar.

As far as water goes, we moved to Putaruru largely because it has some of the cleanest water in the world (Putaruru water from the blue spring supplies 60% of New Zealand's bottled spring water, and this water, which is also the town supply, came second in a world water tasting contest. Putaruru water is really beautiful stuff, and so much better than the chemical cocktail which is the Tauranga/Mount Maunganui supply.)

If anyone is interested in a very nice 'additive' free soap, there is a brand called "natural soap" which is made by Punjas, the Fijiian coconut oil suppliers. This soap contains coconut oil, palm oil, salt, and some glycerine (previously it didn't contain glycerine). This product is available at Woolworths Supermarkets in New Zealand. We use it for washing our skin, our hair, our clothes and our dishes. We even use it on the floor and the walls. We also use baking soda for cleaning.

As far as fruit and vegetables go we eat spray free, homegrown or organic vegetables wherever possible ( I am presently digging up our front lawn and sowing mustard, an excellent green vegetable)

I am not sure if this is 'Twee' or not. . .no doubt Brent, you know more about the subtle intricacies of social labelling than I do. . . but I reserve the right to buy what I want, and to abstain from using any product on the market if I choose to.

We can't all march to the Funereal Drum beaten by the toxic establishment. . .!!!!!

.

[Roy Stewart]

I just find it more fun to use the aloe vera plant itself.

Yes it is really fun stuff to play with. Do you get a lot of aloes and cacti over your way? We use various aloes for stings and bites also.

[babyboarder89]

i tried to grow frsh organic vegetables once
thats was a fun experiment. 2 carrots from a pack of like 90. they were on average 5mm long. yummy though. i had 2 pods of teeeny peas, and my brussel sprout plants turned out to be poppies. that was a shock.

[Roy Stewart]

Organic Opium Poppies!

Very healthy!

[libby]

What were you growing brussel sprouts for anyway? I'd say you had a lucky escape with the poppies there

[gulfsurfer]

opium huh?

[Brent]

Roy, this city has New Zealands only micro filtration water supply...water is filtered...not chemically treated. There are no chemicals in our water. Fact. It's a grade Aa rating..
In fact it's proven to be far cleaner than most "natural" water supplies in this country...check out our waterline website before you post incorrect information.
cheers.

[Roy Stewart]

Why does it taste like boiled garden hose then?

A lot of people have noticed the vile taste . . .

Just wondering.

[Roy Stewart]

Dear Brent,
I feel that you should check your facts before you post information. As can be seen from the information below, the Tauranga City water supply is chlorinated, and futhermore it is chlorinated at a level that can be tasted. Please get it right in future. . . you said that the water supply contained no chemicals. . chlorine is a chemical!
You also state that Tauranga Town water has NZ's only microfiltration system. This is not true. Nelson has a microfiltration system.
Get it right!



Water Treatment Plants (WTP)
Tauranga has two water treatment plants, one at Joyce Road and the other at Oropi. Both treatment plants have obtained an A grade from the ministry of Health.

Joyce Road Water Treatment Plant
The original Joyce Road plant (opened in 1958 and replaced in November 1997) was built to serve the Mount Maunganui Borough. Tauranga City Council built its first treatment plant at Oropi in 1957. Both plants were passed to the control of the Tauranga City Council in 1989 when the two councils were amalgamated.

The new Joyce Road treatment plant was the first in New Zealand to use microfiltration technology for public water supply. Supplied by water from a weir on the Tautau Stream the plant can produce up to 37,000 cubic metres of water a day. This is enough to supply the whole of the City during the winter when demand is lower. Daily production varies with demand and the balance between the two treatment plants.

Microfiltration allows bugs, such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium to be removed from the water supply. The process uses millions of tiny straws that are less than 1mm across. The raw water from the Tautau Stream enters the tubes and passes from the outside to the inside of the straws through tiny holes. These holes are only 5/1000th of a millimetre across. The clean water passes out through the core of the straws and is chlorinated before being put in the Treated Water Reservoir.

In this way the amount of chemical needed to treat the water is minimised.

Return to Top

Oropi Treatment Plant

The Oropi Treatment Plant has now been upgraded using the same microfiltration technology as the Joyce Road Plant. This provides an even greater increase in treatment standards than happened when the original plant was opened in 1957. For the 47 years before 1957 water had be taken from a weir on the Waiorohi Stream, chlorinated, and then gravity-fed down to the town.

Rebuilding the treatment plant at the same site enabled the intake and other structures to be retained.

The Oropi Plant can produce up to 33,000 cubic metres a day. Daily production varies with demand and the balance of output between the Oropi and Joyce Road treatment plants.

© Copyright Tauranga City Council Website Feedback
http://www.taurangawater.govt.nz/waterworks/supply/

[Brent]

I was referring to the treatment process itself, which not the "chemical cocktail" you claim. I forgot to say that clorine is added after the process in varing quantities (parts per million) depending on rainfall and storage times before use because although the water is clean, and mains are flushed 6 monthly...peoples internal domestic water pipes are not. Older houses are a considerable risk, especially with galvanised steel pipes. Likewise a dirty dishwasher can taint your home water. The minute clorine amounts keep pipes sterile. You have kindly taken the time do do this and thankyou.

I also found out today Nelson has a similar plant, although only recently on-line. I did not know this yesterday. Thankyou again Roy.

Anyway, you don't live here & don't drink the stuff so it's all nonsense really. Thankyou for your most dogmatic reply.

I am curious, for a little old town (Pataruru) that uses bore/spring water, with an old reticulation system and is filled with older homes...hmmm what do they use to keep the water clean while it's awaiting the trip to your tap? There's a job for you tomorrow Roy.

[Roy Stewart]

I wouldn't count on my status as 'Not living in the Mount' being permanent. I have lived in Tauranga and the Mount for most of my life, apart from a few years in Auckland doing a degree, three years in Raglan, and three years on Great Barrier Island. I was born in Tauranga. It is my hometown, and always will be.

Regarding water, the Mount water tastes really bad. Putaruru water tastes very nice.

I wonder what you look like. No doubt I have seen you around. How about posting a recent picture of yourself?

And may I ask how long you have lived in Tauranga and where you came from originally.

Your constant 'I'm the local and you are not' refrain is really stupid. I think that you are a blow in.

And since you already know what I look like, how come you didn't front up with your abuse to my face at the beach sometime during the last 7 years? How come? Wimp.

[Guest]

Never seem to see you about actually, I did afew times over this last summer but not since then. Havn't seen you at Rags anywhere, nor Coro nor Gisborne...nowhere actually. Not since we've met in cyberworld.... But now when I do see you next I am looking forward to "introducing" myself.
Have been for 2-3 months :->

Unlike yourself I'm pretty generic in the water and wouldn't expect you to know me, my wettie is black and my boards white. I don't like drawing attention to myself.

Blow in. Excellent.

[Roy Stewart]

Apart from the NZ Nationals in 'O2 at Raglan, the only well known spots I have surfed during the past 8 years have been at the Mount, and we have (up until a few weeks ago) surfed almost every swell that came along. I don't suppose you would see us during the week though. . you having a regular 9 to 5 job and all.

So tell me, how long have you lived in the Mount Brent?

I take it that you didn't live there back in '76 then?

And don't you have a scanner or a digital camera? Lets see your face, Mister!

Front up!

BTW, did you know that we lived in a bus in the middle of a forty acre block of undeveloped industrial land on aerodrome road from 1997 through to 2002. We were doing nothing but surf and build boards the whole time . . and were at the beach in our orange and white Dodge Ambulance several times a day when the swell was up. WEe were well known about the place and were on the front page of the Bay Times at least twice. I was very active in Winter also.. .often surfing big ragged swells at the blowhole when hardly anyone would venture out of the carpark! I have paid my dues at the Mount since 1968, so don't try and come the high and mighty 'local' to me boyo!
.

[Brent]

funny that, havn't seen you. Mind you I don't surf Main that much. I'm usually at Arataki-Omanu where i live (O-Beach Rd -40 secs walk from the beach), less crowded and I usually have a nice sand bar either side of our track about 100-200 meters either way, usually to myself or with afew friends.... Unless, of couse it's blown out & the blowhole or the western end is the only option available.
At the moment I am working 9-4.3 yes, but it is mid-winter and little action here surf wise. I still manage a lunchtime one seveal times a week. Once daylight saving swings up I get a surf before & after work, I usually get at least 3 surfs a day in the weekend, usually one dawnie here then off to Coro or Rags, depending on time, wind & tide etc. So, even though I have a job (someone's got to pay taxes to support/assist people like yourself eh Roy?) I still get more water time than you, and I take a full month off work mid cyclone season every year.
No, I don't come the high & mighty anything with you, I have no interest in such, you're the demigod here Roy and we bow before you-you're the guy in a pink wetsuit :-)

Now, don't be rude and don't let your mouth write checks your fists can't cash.
ps; I thought the old Ambo was white & pale blue?

[Roy Stewart]

Here's the Ambulance . .driven many times daily around the Mount from 1997 to 2002. Every surfer in town knew it. Where were you?

<edit dead link>

And why are you going on about fists? You got a problem with something?

.

[gulfsurfer]

Brent just got schooled!

[Guest]

schooled? what does that mean?
Funny, I thought the old thing was white & blue. Memory playing up. getting old after all. Speaking of such your 43 Roy. Act like it...
Now the fist thing. Your the guy calling me wimp...I'd rather just walk away & deal to you in the flesh. Physically like. When I next see you.

See ya