Thinking of a trip later in the year for a friends stag do, was wondering if people here had a view on which Casino is best?
Any pros/cons would be appreciated as well :-)

I'm thinking Tourism, Airline and Airport stocks would be worth investing in for the semi-long run (6 months?) Anything that lost more than 50% due to Covid-19.
We have vaccines now, within the year things will be 'mostly' normal. Quarantine-free travel, an utter explosion in immigration and tourism.
Here in NZ, when we ended our 2 local lockdowns the amount of retail spending and 'local tourism' exploded to the point where it practically wiped away any losses caused due to Covid.
I'm thinking the same will happen with international travel. BOOM millions of people booking trips overseas.
I've got 80% of my portfolio in Air New Zealand, and am thinking of buying into Sky City Casino, Auckland Airport and Kathmandu (camping gear). If something similar exists in your country, I'm pretty sure it's a safe bet to return 40% +

For the first page CLICK HERE (page 2 in comments etc.)
‘Oh no honey, it’s 44’’
So I finally got my Vegas experience and although it wasn’t a great success from a money point of view, it was a great first experience.
Like every player I’ve wandered about what Vegas would be like ever since I first played cards, watched 2 months 2 million and saw the famous Chris Moneymaker footage.
We go back roughly six years in time and we found a very young me in New Zealand. I was there for a Marketing internship and was already grinding the low stakes online .If you ever have the opportunity for sure go to New Zealand, and play in the SkyCity Tower Casino in Auckland. Very nice poker room with a view over the whole city . I always sold a bit of action to play live because I definitely wasn’t rolled for those games, being an intern student.
Anyways, my internship ended and I have my good friend Rick visiting me all the way from Holland. We find ourselves sitting in the Irish Pub, drinking Heino’s.
We’ve had a good amount of them and I notice an older woman a few tables further down winking at me. I’m 22 and tell Rick what I just noticed. Being a true friend he immediately encourages me to seal the deal. ‘A true milf man, you have to go for it’. I approach her, we have a drink and she tells me she’s 34 years old and from Brazil. 12 years age difference and from South America, nice.
We end up in her hotel room and the next day Rick, me and another guy are off the South Island. I can still remember the cab driver laughing when I told him about what happened the night before. During our trip in the South Island we visited the casino in Christchurch. I’m the first one to sit down and there’s an Asian gentleman next to me in seat 1, he’s in the middle of a big pot when he is handed the hot tea he ordered. Being polite he decided to take it off the waitress and put it on one of the tables close to him, but not without getting up from his chair. It was his turn to act and when he turned around, literally 10 seconds later, he saw that the dealer mucked his hand. This led to an incredible outburst which was very understandable to be honest. His hand must have been very strong. Poker is weird, if someone gets screwed it’s always funny, except when it’s you. It’s like seeing people miss the train after giving it all during a last sprint, it never gets old.
I didn’t speak to the Brazilian woman but when we were back in Auckland I decided to contact her. She’s keen to meet again that night, she’s staying at another hotel.
Being a young gentleman I invite her to a classy place for some drinks. We’re casually talking and I mention I really would love to go to Vegas one day. She said ‘Oh it’s great I’ve been there 15 years ago’. I ask her how that’s possible because she’s 34 and you have to be 21 to go out and play. She looks at me and says ‘Oh honey, no not 34, 44’. Well this was certainly interesting, the age difference wasn’t 12 but 22 years. We had a great night and apparently she focused more on her performance between the sheets than she did on making breakfasts in the past 44 years. Worst breakfast of my life.
Back in the now, I’ve returned home from Vegas and the money part starts worrying me a bit in the back of my mind. It’s not that I didn’t have money, I just didn’t want to spend money while being home. Money had better purposes, I’d rather spend it towards experiences like the Vegas trip and finding yourself in spots to sleep with 22 year older woman. However, the gap year was a calculated decision, so at the end of the day it would be fine. The only thing you can do is keep showing up and play your best.
Within 5 days I got a really good run online and won the full 5k back, this is great. Vegas has basically been turned into a free trip now. In the meantime Gary let’s me know he’s staying close to the mailbox while being home, he doesn’t want his mom or dad to find a hospital bill. I picture the scene out of Harry Potter where Harry is waiting for his letter from Hogwarts. Things are going a whole lot better for our other Irish friend Clicki, he made the final table of the Crazy 888 WSOP event! One thing is sure, that backer he wanted to keep happy, he must have been very happy.

So first there's going to be the lore dump, then a quick campaign summary, and then the most recent bit of worldbuilding.

Lore

In an alternate timeline, Earth is contacted by a race of extremely intelligent blue-colored aliens, known as the Iruki
Their motives are mysterious, but they quickly establish relations with human leaders and set up Starfall Base on their initial landing site in Japan, which will eventually grow to the Iruki city of Starfall
They bring with them the Konchu, a subjugated race of enormous bug-like creatures, whose strength, endurance, and chitinous plating over much of their bodies make them ideal muscle
Several years pass, and humanity's technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, although this masks that unease is rising; humanity is growing mistrustful of the Iruki's outward generosity and increasingly confident in their own ability to handle this themselves, the Iruki brass are arguing amongst themselves what their mission entails, and the Konchu are beginning to suspect that the Iruki are up to nothing good behind the scenes
The situation has turned into a powder keg ready to blow at any moment for any reason, but its catalyst will come in the form of another unexpected arrival from the sky
Early one winter morning, an Iruki listening post picks up a familiar signature approaching New Zealand
It belongs to a liveship of the Ekara, a race of semi-nomadic bird people with whom the Iruki had previously tangled (and against whom the Iruki may have committed war crimes, though the record is incomplete)
A visual is acquired, and the vessel is seen to be limping heavily and sporting damage inconsistent with known weaponry
Hours later, the vessel crashes in the ocean near Auckland, and a swarm of amphibious escape pods is observed escaping from the wreckage and making its way towards land
An emergency meeting of top Iruki brass is called: all recognize that the detachment is far from ready to deal with the arrival of the possibly vengeful Ekara, let alone whatever caused that damage to their liveship, but Flight Commander Valon is firmly of the opinion that diplomatic relations must be established, while First Lieutenant Lania is convinced that both humanity and the Ekara must be subjugated in order to prepare the planet for assault from space by an unknown enemy
A fight breaks out, and Lania shoots Valon with a space laser, thereby assuming command of the detachment by international law of go fuck yourself
Lania immediately proceeds to the base's research labs to retrieve an incomplete viral bioweapon their scientists had been developing, flies to New Zealand, and releases it into a waterway near Wellington
As it turns out, the Ekara are immune to the virus, but humanity is not: within a year, 90% of the human population has been wiped out, and the remaining 10% are clustered into the remains of once-mighty cities and entirely reliant on Iruki technology for survival, while being told that the virus was of Ekara origin
However, the Konchu have finally had enough of serving a government of genocidal psychopaths and, along with a small number of sympathetic Iruki defectors, revolt, fight their way out of Starfall, and disperse across the world to attempt to help humanity rebuild and the Ekara to clear their name

It's against this background that our campaign story begins (well, sort of. Going into session one, I knew that most of humanity was dead, that the Iruki had subjugated the Konchu, that the Ekara were also there, and had written literally none of the rest of it).

Adelaide, Australia, many years after the Great Plague
Mike The Mechanic, a thirtysomething human artificer more comfortable around vehicles than people, is working on a vehicle repair when Edie Unpronounceablename, an aboriginal halfling ranger, walks in
She's walked all the way from Alice Springs and needs a drink, but would rather have one with someone else than by herself
It takes some convincing, but Mike grudgingly agrees to leave his shop and walk her to the local saloon
Inside, the two encounter Mushi Bushi, a Konchu monk with a very serious demeanor but who regularly makes Jojo's Bizarre Adventure references
He's on the hunt for a bandit leader who's been causing trouble in the area around Adelaide
He's heard that they have cool motorcycles
Mike is instantly convinced to lend a hand

These three take down the bandit, then trace his funding source to an anarcho-capitalist warlord in a nearby town with connections to the Iruki, so after connecting up with Vollyte, an NPC Iruki defector wizard whose human wife and mixed son (who was going to become a fourth PC until the player ghosted me) were both killed in what he suspects was an assassination to send him a message (and no, I don't really want to think about, uh, "human-Iruki relations"), plus James, a gnome barbarian with a pet drop bear named Beary, and Captain Kangaroo, a highly trained attack kangaroo that decided Edie was its mother after Mushi probably gave it a severe concussion, this colorful band of misfits proceeds to take on and kill the warlord.
However, Vollyte is very nearly killed in the fight, and elects to let his adventuring days conclude there, just as a young Ekara rogue NPC named Aerie who helped the gang get into the warlord's bunker decides this adventuring life is great, and she's going to tag along.
Following this, the gang makes a terrible movie, steals two airplanes, gets trapped in a dimensional disturbance over the Pacific Ocean, lands in Mexico in a timeline where the movie was really good and celebrity versions of themselves also exist, light a bar on fire, almost get kicked out of a casino, learn that there is a plot afoot to steal the mythical Lifetime Disney Pass, a mysterious ticket to Disney World that predates the Plague and is apparently followed by weird, supernatural incidents, go to a lake, fight each other, fight a giant lake monster with Mickey Mouse ears, fight a kaiju Beary with Mickey Mouse ears after he eats the pass, which is also how the previous monster got like that, send James diving down Beary's throat to retrieve the Pass, then take a boat to Florida and fight a giant shark before arriving in Tampa Bay.
Now, finally, we get to the worldbuilding I did this week that I thought was really cool.

Current Session

The party's boat is guided in to shore by an enthusiastic older man in a pirate hat, with a pirate accent, wearing an old Tampa Bay Buccaneers T-shirt
He greets all happily until seeing Aerie, at which point his expression sours and he begins hurling invective
The party extricate themselves from this encounter and head into The Navel Tavern, a dockside bar with what can only be described as a very sexy orange on the sign outside
Inside, they're greeted by a human entertainer in an orange dress playing an out-of-tune piano, who introduces herself as "Florida's own Clementine O'Range" before launching into a truly mediocre piano ballad rendition of "State Of Florida" by Less Than Jake
The bartender is a tired-looking Konchu serving a clientele of about half and half humans and Konchu
Aerie and Mushi approach and Mushi remarks on how nice it is to be among his brethren
The bartender introduces himself as Arukoru and explains that following the revolution and exodus, many Konchu made their way to sailing towns upon realizing that their size, strength, and toughness made them ideal sailors: as a result, Tampa is now about 60% Konchu
He also apologizes to Aerie on behalf of "Bucky," the dock pirate, explaining that his family died in the plague when he was a child and he believes the Iruki that it was the Ekara's fault, and not to take it personally
He finally notes that the bar is supposed to be called The Valencia, and The Navel was meant to be a strip club downtown, but the signs got mixed up in a shipping error just before the plague hit and, long story short, just ended up staying where they were, so now The Navel is an orange-themed bar by the docks and The Valencia is an orange-themed strip club downtown, because doesn't that just figure
Asked about Disney World, his mandibles retract in such a way that a human's face might turn white, and he says he doesn't like to talk about that place, nobody who's returned from there has ever reported making it past "the guard dogs," and you'd be better off talking to Detective Tantei at the sheriff's office down the road
So Mike marches down to the sheriff's office to meet with Detective Tantei
He's a gruff, no-nonsense Konchu who runs a tight ship
Asked about Disney World, Tantei seems pensive
He explains that he's got his own reasons to be suspicious of Disney World, as he has seen a string of disappearances in recent weeks
Human, Konchu, and even an Ekara, any age, any gender, the only pattern is that each and every one of them had come into possession of some item of vintage, pre-Plague Disney memorabilia shortly before going missing, and Disney World seems the only logical culprit
Normally, he says, he would send some of his own men there to investigate, but it would be a suicide mission: he only feels comfortable asking Mike for help because "it's no chitin off my facial plating if a bunch of misfit strangers get themselves killed trying to get past the guard dogs."
As this is happening, Aerie and James at The Navel have struck up a conversation with an Ekara named Megan, a paladin with an array of impressive biocybernetic augmentations that appear to be of Iruki origin (yes, this is a new PC)
Upon being shown the pass, she confidently proclaims it to have been the pass of someone named Swoozie, a former Disney employee who did an expose on them and was subsequently disappeared
She paints a bleak picture of Disney as an evil empire that will permanently silence its critics without even a second look, and the pass itself as an object of immense power that must not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands
Aerie says "you sound like an authority on the subject: why don't you go there with us and help us get in?" and Megan replies "Make me an offer"
So James challenges her
I swear to god
To a Yugioh duel
I allow this because I reward audacious thinking, and long story short, James wins and Megan agrees to join

And now I have to figure out WTF "the guard dogs" are.

Wide Moat, what is that ? Before starting this blog post please read this wide moat businesses explanation here
Okay, now that we are up to speed, before you invest in any wide moat company you need to ensure financials of the business are solid as well, I’ll cover the topic of How to understand the financials of the business in the upcoming blogs so subscribe (here) to know when the blog is out.
Let’s see if we can spot any wide moat business listed on NZX.

Auckland International Airport Limited (NZE: AIA)

Auckland International airport holds a virtual monopoly as the largest airport in NZ and processes the most number of passengers. This is located in the largest city in NZ as well, making it an ideal destination for travelers, With travelers expected to increase in the coming decades, you can clearly see the wide moat around this business.

WILL THE MOAT SHRINK IN THE NEAR FUTURE ?

The likely hood of the moat shrinking is very low since construction of another international airport in Auckland is highly unlikely. Thing to look out for is debt, since airport need vast amounts of money for up keep and improvements( ex: loss of unnecessary capital due to project over runs and delays).
Read a more in depth analysis on Auckland International Airport here

Chorus Limited (NS) - (NZE: CNU)

Chorus manages and builds telecommunications infrastructure in NZ, for ex: when ever you sign up for fiber broadband plan with your ISP, Chorus is contracted to install the connections to your house. As copper cables are replaced by fiber optic cables around NZ, the cost of maintaining these new infrastructure grids are less than before.( Fiber vs Copper wiring: cost of copper and fiber optic cables are stronger requiring less maintenance).

WILL THE MOAT SHRINK IN THE NEAR FUTURE ?

I don’t think the moat will shrink in the near future as setting up a telecom infrastructure company with years of know how is quite difficult, the only way I can see this moat shrinking is if international companies what a piece of NZ infrastructure, but I don’t think the government would allow key infrastructure projects to be outsourced.

NZME Limited (NZE: NZM)

NZME is a New Zealand media company which owns brands such as:

1. NZ herald
2. Newstalk ZB
3. ZM
4. The Hits
5. Grab one etc…..

The moat exists but it is a very small one, this moat would have been huge during the hay day of print newspaper readership.
So what has happened here ? Internet….
Print newspaper is virtually dead, newspapers all around the world are struggling to make money as subscribers dwindle.
Due to the drop in readership, less and less ads are placed in the newspaper hence lower revenue.
All the eye balls have moved to “ Social Media”, that’s where the ads are now a days.
The only saving light I can see is Grab One, the popular coupon site in NZ. I do believe this will provide a strong source of revenue to the company but I am not sure if this can offset the losses in the other divisions.

The New Zealand Refining Company Limited (NZE: NZR)

Refining NZ is New Zealand’s only oil refinery and the leading supplier of refined petroleum products to the New Zealand market, including petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and other products As a critical piece of national energy infrastructure, Refining NZ is responsible for supplying:

• around 85% country’s jet fuel
• around 67% of diesel
• around 58% of all petrol
• between 75 and 85% of bitumen for roading
• all fuel oil for ships
• sulphur for farm fertilizer
• CO2 for the carbonated drinks industry

Moat exists because this is the only oil refinery in New Zealand, It also suppliers around 85% of NZ’s aviation fuel.
I believe the number of travelers to New Zealand will only increase, Provide refining NZ a solid moat, however as electric cars are bound to make in roads in New Zealand, the demand for petrol and diesel will gradually decrease.
So we need to keep an eye out on the financial performance on an annual basis to make sure the business can still maintain the moat.

Port of Tauranga Limited (NS) (NZE: POT)

The Port of Tauranga Located Tauranga (about 200 km away from Auckland) is the largest port in New Zealand in terms of total cargo volume, and the second largest in terms of container throughput.
Total exports:
📷
Total Exports from POT
As you can see the number of tonnes being exported from port of Tauranga is increasing.
Total imports:
📷
Total Imports from POT
As you can see the number of tonnes being imported from port of Tauranga is increasing as well.
I see this trend continuing as the demand for NZ products especially in emerging markets increases and demand for imports increases as NZ population continues to grow.
So the Moat around POT should be in tact for many years to come.

Restaurant Brands New Zealand Limited (NZE: RBD)

Restaurant Brands operates the New Zealand franchises for KFC, Pizza Hut and Carl's Jr. It also operate a KFC franchise in New South Wales, Australia and Taco Bell and Pizza Hut franchise in Hawaii, Guam and Saipan.
As of October 2018, Restaurant Brands has 261 stores: 94 KFC New Zealand, 61 KFC Australia 29 Pizza Hut New Zealand, 18 Carl's Jr., 36 Taco Bell Hawaii and 45 Pizza Hut Hawaii stores. It employs nearly 8,000 staff across New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii and serves 120,000 customers worldwide every day. Since RBD operates the NZ franchises for KFC, Pizza Hut and Carl’s Jr and if you wanted to be a franchisee in NZ then you would have to go through them , this gives RBD an economic moat.
Will the moat shrink in the near future ?
I think the moat will certainly shrink, this is due to the fact that many people are moving away from processed foods to more organic and more healthier options, this will cause sales in fast foods such as KFC, Pizza hut etc to shrink, which in turn means less new franchises opening up. There might even be closures around the corner. So I see the moat being broken pretty soon in the years to come.

SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited (NS) (NZE: SKC)

SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited is New Zealand’s largest tourism, leisure and entertainment company. It is one of three major publicly listed casino operators in Australasia.
It has entertainment complexes in:

1. Auckland
2. Hamilton
3. Queenstown
4. Adelaide
5. Darwin

SkyCity also owns one of Auckland’s best know attractions “Sky Tower”. Although the revenue generated from sky tower to the overall business is small, it is still a jewel in the sky city crown.
Will the moat shrink in the near future ?
Considering SKC is New Zealand’s largest tourism, leisure and entertainment company, it has all the basis covered for tourists that enter into NZ. It also has large convention centers where numerous conferences are held, I don’t see the moat shrinking any time soon. As they in casino lingo “ House always wins”.

South Port New Zealand Limited (NS) ( NZE: SPN)

SPN is the southern most commercial port in NZ located at Bluff. It is situated in the highly productive province of Southland which is responsible for producing a sizeable proportion of New Zealand’s total exports by value. The region’s major exporters are all situated within 80km of the port.
All the moat characteristics explained for Port of Tauranga (POT) exist here as well.

Trade Me Group Limited (NZE: TME)

Trade me is the largest internet auction website in NZ. It has Trade me property, motors, jobs etc.
Trade me had held a monopoly on internet auctions for quite some time in NZ, but it’s moat has been slowly eroding away, how ?
Trade me jobs is competing against Seek, LinkedIn
Trade me property is competing against realestate.co.nz, oneroof etc.
Trade me market place is competing against Facebook marketplace.
Looking at all the competitions trade me is facing it seems quite difficult to hold down the moat in the future.

Vector Limited (NZE: VCT)

Vector is New Zealand's largest distributor of electricity and gas, owning and operating networks which span the Auckland region.This distribution system gives Vector an economic moat.
Vector has been involved in electrification projects - charging stations for electric cars, which I think is great for future growth. As number of electric cars increase, there will definitely be a need for more and more charging stations which vector can deliver. The moat seems to be very much intact.

Wide Moat, what is that ? Before starting this blog post please read this wide moat businesses explanation here
Okay, now that we are up to speed, before you invest in any wide moat company you need to ensure financials of the business are solid as well, I’ll cover the topic of How to understand the financials of the business in the upcoming blogs so subscribe (here) to know when the blog is out.
Let’s see if we can spot any wide moat business listed on NZX.

Auckland International Airport Limited (NZE: AIA)

Auckland International airport holds a virtual monopoly as the largest airport in NZ and processes the most number of passengers. This is located in the largest city in NZ as well, making it an ideal destination for travelers, With travelers expected to increase in the coming decades, you can clearly see the wide moat around this business.

WILL THE MOAT SHRINK IN THE NEAR FUTURE ?

The likely hood of the moat shrinking is very low since construction of another international airport in Auckland is highly unlikely. Thing to look out for is debt, since airport need vast amounts of money for up keep and improvements( ex: loss of unnecessary capital due to project over runs and delays).
Read a more in depth analysis on Auckland International Airport here

Chorus Limited (NS) - (NZE: CNU)

Chorus manages and builds telecommunications infrastructure in NZ, for ex: when ever you sign up for fiber broadband plan with your ISP, Chorus is contracted to install the connections to your house. As copper cables are replaced by fiber optic cables around NZ, the cost of maintaining these new infrastructure grids are less than before.( Fiber vs Copper wiring: cost of copper and fiber optic cables are stronger requiring less maintenance).

WILL THE MOAT SHRINK IN THE NEAR FUTURE ?

I don’t think the moat will shrink in the near future as setting up a telecom infrastructure company with years of know how is quite difficult, the only way I can see this moat shrinking is if international companies what a piece of NZ infrastructure, but I don’t think the government would allow key infrastructure projects to be outsourced.

NZME Limited (NZE: NZM)

NZME is a New Zealand media company which owns brands such as:

1. NZ herald
2. Newstalk ZB
3. ZM
4. The Hits
5. Grab one etc…..

The moat exists but it is a very small one, this moat would have been huge during the hay day of print newspaper readership.
So what has happened here ? Internet….
Print newspaper is virtually dead, newspapers all around the world are struggling to make money as subscribers dwindle.
Due to the drop in readership, less and less ads are placed in the newspaper hence lower revenue.
All the eye balls have moved to “ Social Media”, that’s where the ads are now a days.
The only saving light I can see is Grab One, the popular coupon site in NZ. I do believe this will provide a strong source of revenue to the company but I am not sure if this can offset the losses in the other divisions.

The New Zealand Refining Company Limited (NZE: NZR)

Refining NZ is New Zealand’s only oil refinery and the leading supplier of refined petroleum products to the New Zealand market, including petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and other products As a critical piece of national energy infrastructure, Refining NZ is responsible for supplying:

• around 85% country’s jet fuel
• around 67% of diesel
• around 58% of all petrol
• between 75 and 85% of bitumen for roading
• all fuel oil for ships
• sulphur for farm fertilizer
• CO2 for the carbonated drinks industry

Moat exists because this is the only oil refinery in New Zealand, It also suppliers around 85% of NZ’s aviation fuel.
I believe the number of travelers to New Zealand will only increase, Provide refining NZ a solid moat, however as electric cars are bound to make in roads in New Zealand, the demand for petrol and diesel will gradually decrease.
So we need to keep an eye out on the financial performance on an annual basis to make sure the business can still maintain the moat.

Port of Tauranga Limited (NS) (NZE: POT)

The Port of Tauranga Located Tauranga (about 200 km away from Auckland) is the largest port in New Zealand in terms of total cargo volume, and the second largest in terms of container throughput.
Total exports:
📷
Total Exports from POT
As you can see the number of tonnes being exported from port of Tauranga is increasing.
Total imports:
📷
Total Imports from POT
As you can see the number of tonnes being imported from port of Tauranga is increasing as well.
I see this trend continuing as the demand for NZ products especially in emerging markets increases and demand for imports increases as NZ population continues to grow.
So the Moat around POT should be in tact for many years to come.

Restaurant Brands New Zealand Limited (NZE: RBD)

Restaurant Brands operates the New Zealand franchises for KFC, Pizza Hut and Carl's Jr. It also operate a KFC franchise in New South Wales, Australia and Taco Bell and Pizza Hut franchise in Hawaii, Guam and Saipan.
As of October 2018, Restaurant Brands has 261 stores: 94 KFC New Zealand, 61 KFC Australia 29 Pizza Hut New Zealand, 18 Carl's Jr., 36 Taco Bell Hawaii and 45 Pizza Hut Hawaii stores. It employs nearly 8,000 staff across New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii and serves 120,000 customers worldwide every day. Since RBD operates the NZ franchises for KFC, Pizza Hut and Carl’s Jr and if you wanted to be a franchisee in NZ then you would have to go through them , this gives RBD an economic moat.
Will the moat shrink in the near future ?
I think the moat will certainly shrink, this is due to the fact that many people are moving away from processed foods to more organic and more healthier options, this will cause sales in fast foods such as KFC, Pizza hut etc to shrink, which in turn means less new franchises opening up. There might even be closures around the corner. So I see the moat being broken pretty soon in the years to come.

SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited (NS) (NZE: SKC)

SKYCITY Entertainment Group Limited is New Zealand’s largest tourism, leisure and entertainment company. It is one of three major publicly listed casino operators in Australasia.
It has entertainment complexes in:

1. Auckland
2. Hamilton
3. Queenstown
4. Adelaide
5. Darwin

SkyCity also owns one of Auckland’s best know attractions “Sky Tower”. Although the revenue generated from sky tower to the overall business is small, it is still a jewel in the sky city crown.
Will the moat shrink in the near future ?
Considering SKC is New Zealand’s largest tourism, leisure and entertainment company, it has all the basis covered for tourists that enter into NZ. It also has large convention centers where numerous conferences are held, I don’t see the moat shrinking any time soon. As they in casino lingo “ House always wins”.

South Port New Zealand Limited (NS) ( NZE: SPN)

SPN is the southern most commercial port in NZ located at Bluff. It is situated in the highly productive province of Southland which is responsible for producing a sizeable proportion of New Zealand’s total exports by value. The region’s major exporters are all situated within 80km of the port.
All the moat characteristics explained for Port of Tauranga (POT) exist here as well.

Trade Me Group Limited (NZE: TME)

Trade me is the largest internet auction website in NZ. It has Trade me property, motors, jobs etc.
Trade me had held a monopoly on internet auctions for quite some time in NZ, but it’s moat has been slowly eroding away, how ?
Trade me jobs is competing against Seek, LinkedIn
Trade me property is competing against realestate.co.nz, oneroof etc.
Trade me market place is competing against Facebook marketplace.
Looking at all the competitions trade me is facing it seems quite difficult to hold down the moat in the future.

Vector Limited (NZE: VCT)

Vector is New Zealand's largest distributor of electricity and gas, owning and operating networks which span the Auckland region.This distribution system gives Vector an economic moat.
Vector has been involved in electrification projects - charging stations for electric cars, which I think is great for future growth. As number of electric cars increase, there will definitely be a need for more and more charging stations which vector can deliver. The moat seems to be very much intact.

Australia - Travel and Itinerary Wiki

Backstory - I'm a US expat and travel hacker living in Sydney with my wife. We've been here for 6 months and seen a lot of the same questions about the area get posted almost daily. I'll do my best to concisely run through a number of topics here, whether it be about getting here or what to do, in the hopes this makes future questions a little more tactical.

NOTE: PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK IF YOU WANT TO CONTRIBUTE!

Update 1 - Added booking windows and intra-region travel info.

Getting Here

Cash

Great deals to be had lately in economy. Prices have consistently dropped $800 or so from mainland USA on full service carriers. These sales are pretty frequent. If you have Chase Sapphire Reserve card a $800 cash ticket is just over 53,000 Ultimate Rewards points with FULL points earn on the ticket itself. That's a great deal if you don't care about sitting up front. Business class is significantly more expensive. This is one of the most sought after premium class routes on the planet and with that prices tend to stay high and award availability low.

From the East Coast of the US

I highly recommend AA to DFW and Qantas DFW-SYD. The route is served by a comfortable A380 (good economy, dated 2-2-2 J though) and loads are typically intentionally kept low heading East to maximize cargo capacity. That means you can realistically expect a empty middle seat if you plan well. On the eastbound side it's still possible but less likely. Also, if you fly on low days you may score an upgrade for $1,000 - $1,200 USD per person, per way, via Qantas' bid for upgrade program. Really the major benefit here is connections going further into the US - minimizing travel time on either side of that long leg is incredibly more valuable and comfortable.

From the West Coast of the US

Any carrier works here, chose based on your preference. Every domestic carrier serves the route (UA/AA/DL) and most are newer aircraft (sans Delta's aging 777s). You can also find good deals via Fiji as well as via Auckland on Air New Zealand. I personally don't like breaking up the trip any more than necessary so I don't like those options.

Points

Oh boy, this is a good one. Generally the rule of thumb is simply this, PLAN AHEAD IF YOU WANT TO FLY UP FRONT! The only exception to this is Virgin Australia who sometimes releases J space < 2 weeks of travel. That's absolutely rolling the dice though. Economy wise you can typically find space on at least one carrier so that's less of a topic, and as above, with cash prices being so low it can often be less worthwhile to book the award itself. Up front you really have a few options.  
US Carriers  

Carrier	Booking Window	Comments
United	338	Good J hard product, meh soft product. Awards open up here and there but typically it's very limited to last minute redemption. Price-wise, they're not the cheapest, but not the most expensive.
AA	331	probably the best hard produce from the group. Same meh soft product (they're US carriers after all). Pricing is also okay, but availability is next to none.
Delta	331	bad products, hard and soft. The seats are old, the service is older. Price is highest BUT you will often find saver-level seats on Virgin Australia (a partner) < 2 weeks out.

  Australian Carriers  

Carrier	Booking Window	Comments
Qantas	353	meh J product (2-2-2). Good/Great F. Service is also good, very polished. Availability in spurts, but okay price via AA.
Virgin Australia	330	best seat (the Business) and I'm a sucker for a bird with a bar. Conversely, terrible availability unless you're looking within 2 weeks or right at the window.

  Asian Carriers (generally better availability)  

Carrier	Booking Window	Comments
Korean	360?	my personal favorite. Great airline, great US service, and a transfer partner of Chase. And most importantly, they tend to be quite generous with their availability.
Cathay	360	old favorite in the points world. Not the cheapest option but if you have the points then you'll often find availability through HKG when you book at the window. Great seat, classic service, and AMAZING lounges in HKG.
JAL	330	like ANA, in light of recently US carrier devaluations these guys have become a viable option through Tokyo. Some recommend their 777 SkySuite as the best J product out there.
SQ	355	Suites are always a favorite but lately it's pretty impossible to not pull your hair out before actually confirming that route. J availability tends to show up here and there. Recently devauled though so use tool to find best option based on points available.
ANA	356	mentioned in JAL topic, just a solid all around option if you have the points.

  Award Tools Look, I know a lot of carriers were mentioned above and you're probably going well, that's all great, but how do I ultimately choose one given the fact that I have a trip 1+ year out and a few options? That's where the below sites come in handy. They will tell decipher award charts and help you distill down the airlines that you can realistically fly given the points that you have.

• AwardAce
• AwardHacker
• RewardStock

Once In The Region

Intra-Region Travel

• Staying in the South/South East (SYD/BNE/MEL/PEetc.) - Avios, Avios, Avios! SYD-MEL, for example, is 4,500 Avios one way on Qantas. This is an amazing sweet spot.
• Cross Country Travel - This is tough. Economy prices aren't terribly high, but the business class product on these flights is top notch. Virgin flies "The Business" A330 and Qantas flies an equivalent A330 through the continent and they really cater to those premium travelers. I still haven't come up with the best way of doing this with points though local frequent flyers swear by the points upgrade to get up front.
• Across the Ditch (To/From NZ) - My recommendation is Air New Zealand. I recently booked this and spent 25k Krisflyer (Singapore) for a RT flight on Air New Zealand. I definitely consider that tremendous value, though discount carriers operate these routes and you can find deals (I would consider $300 round trip in economy to be a good deal).

Sydney-Specific

Rule of thumb, if you have 5+ days in the region than I suggest going outside of Sydney. It's a cool city, but there is SO much more to see. Scroll down for details, but while in Sydney here are a few suggestions:

• Taronga Zoo – One of my favourites. A great place to see all the local animals that the US doesn’t have. This is a FANTASTIC first day activity and will help you fight jet lag!
• Bondi to Cogee Walk – A beautiful self-guided walk down the coast. It’s just a walking path but it's a must do.
• Harbour Bridge Climb – Climb atop Sydney’s most famous bridge to see the city like nowhere else. Younger people love it, older people tend to avoid it. I haven't done it and don't plan to.
• Sydney Opera House – The most famous landmark in Sydney. We could see a show or just do a tour. Up to you.
• Manly Ferry/Beach – Manly beach is amazing and the surrounding area is filled with bars and restaurants. This would take up the majority of a day. The ferry there and back is a mini sightseeing tour in and of itself.
• Sydney Bus Tours - Highly recommended as it takes you all over the city and even out to Bondi. Hop on/Hop off style so you can wander if you like a stop.
• Sydney Boat Tours – Just like the bus tours, the boat tours allow you to get off at stops and explore. A great way to maneuver around the water and hit the main points of interest. Could be a good way to see Manly, too. Do NOT do a dinner cruise, the food is bad and it's just a waste of time.
• The Rocks – Located right in the harbour, the Rocks is an area with numerous restaurants, a famous market and Australia’s oldest pubs.
• Darling Harbour – Like the Rocks, DH is another touristy area on the water that has a ton of restaurants and bars. Also has a Ferris wheel, an enormous fish market with tons of fresh seafood, and a casino.
• Sydney Seaplanes – Name says it all. I absolutely LOVED the "Sydney Secrets" tour.
• Featherdale Wildlife Park – Never been here but it comes highly recommended. Basically it is an animal park where all of the animals are loose and you can interact with them. All of the Australian animals will be there. It is a little bit of a drive but definitely doable.
• Blue Mountains – A national park that has a bunch of beautiful views and is much different from the water you get all around the city. They have a similar bus tour to all the attractions which lets you hop on/off at will. A train will take us directly up there if you’d like to go.
• Hunter Valley – Australia is known for its wine and HV is the closest region to the city.

Places to Stay

• Park Hyatt Syndey - go to place for best of the best stays. On Cirqular Quay with views of Opera House.
• Westin Sydney - downtown, good location (10 min walk from quay), nice hotel.
• Hilton Sydney - downtown, same as Westin.
• Intercontinental Double Bay - ritzy area of town, looks to be a nice hotel. I live nearby so I'm biased - it's a good spot but out of the hustle and bustle.
• Marriott - also downtown, 5 min from quay. Lobby recently redone, rooms are supposedly very nice, too.
• Four Points Sydney - closer to Chinatown but still downtown. 20 min qay to quay. I've heard it's nice.
• There are tons more, this is a whole topic in an of itself.

Regional

Are you outdoorsy?

• Queenstown, NZ (~3 hour flight) - The end all be all go-to place for being outdoors. If you like being outside/hiking/etc. this should absolutely be on your list See extreme activities section.
• Tasmania -
• Blue Mountains - see above.
• Royal National Park (~30 min from Sydney) - great national park with some beautiful hiking spots. Not huge, but easy to get to and is a good excursion.

Do you like food/drinks?

• Melbourne (pronounced Melbun) - Where to begin? Really the best way of thinking about Sydney vs. Melbourne, which is a HUGE rivalry by the way, is to put it simply as > Sydney has the sights whereas Melbourne has the culture.

Extreme activities?

• Cairnes (pronounced Cans) - the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. Backpacker town (if you want a nicer area near the GBR see Port Douglas) and full of bars and nightlife. If you're younger, want to hang out with some peers, and go diving, go here.
• Queenstown - the extreme sports capital of the world or something like that. Has it all - skiing, skydiving, bungee jumping, rafting, etc.

Animals

• Featherdale Wildlife Park - Near Sydney, see above section.
• Taronga Zoo - see Sydney section.
• Austrlaia Zoo - Up near Sunshine Coast, not familiar with it.

Cultural

• Melbourne - see food.
• Uluru - Where Ayers Rock is. Great for the "Outback" experience. Can fly (3 hrs) from Sydney, not/nothing else there though.

Beaches/Relaxation

• Lord Howe Island - limited access island. Super exclusive. Best value is booking out and using Qantas points to get there. 16k or so round trip for $1,000 flight.
• Hamilton Island - right off barrier reef's southern end. Beautiful islands with Whitsundays islands nearby.
• Port Douglas - the nicer way to get to the Great Barrier Reef (as opposed to touristy/backpacker Cairns).
• Bondi/Bronte/Coogee/etc. - Eastern beaches. All near Syndey. Bondi to Coogee walk will show you most of them.
• Northern Beaches (30 - 45 min car ride from city). More laid back beaches outside of the city. Slower paces, friendlier locals.

Example Itinerary

Assumes 10 days down under.

• Day 1 - Land in SYD, drop bags at hotel, change, and head straight to Zoo. DO NOT NAP. Try to stay awake until 7p or so. Good luck.
• Day 2 Sydney - Hop on/Hop off bus tour. Do Bondi to Coogee walk when you get to Bondi. Figure out what you like and don't like along the way.
• Day 3 Travel to Melbourne - Dinner downtown.
• Day 4 Melbourne - Coffee, walk around CBD, Great Ocean Road maybe?
• Day 5 Travel to Queenstown, NZ
• Day 6 Queenstown - Outside
• Day 7 Queenstown - Outside
• Day 8 Travel to Sydney
• Day 9 Sydney - Opera House tour. Ferry to Manly for lunch/afternoon.
• Day 10 Depart Sydney

http://www.stanleymatthew.com/life-as-a-food-beverage-manager
Hey Matthew,
Just wanted to run you an update of where & what I've been up to so far. Try hit you up each week and keep you up with everything i'm doing.
I've been in the hospitality industry for 10 years now and if there is one thing I have learnt; it would be that the goal posts you are aiming for are like the end of a rainbow. No matter how close you think you are getting they keep finding a way to move further away.
It's easy to think then, What's the point? Why do I keep at it? Why do I put up with the unsociable hours? Why do I continue to deal with delusional customers? Why do I endure the painful conversations with difficult or emotional staff? And the list could go on and on.
I think the answer to these questions is very surprising when I truly think about it. It's not because I love alcohol and food. I mean I do love both of those things.... very much. And it’s not because I love interactions with people. I mean this one time I did an introvert/extrovert test at university and scored the highest in a class of 300 or so on the introvert scale, I was one score away from being as introverted as one person could be. So interactions with people exhaust me, especially those I have trouble relating to.
No, why I do it is because of the challenge. It's just so complete as a problem. Almost all facets of life are encompassed by this industry. Ok almost everyone could say that about their own industry and find ways of proving the statement they have made. But hear me out, let me start with where I have come from and what has bought me to where I am today.
So I moved out of home at 19, the only job I had ever had was working with dad during school holidays helping him flip houses. So when I found myself living in a shoe-box apartment in the middle of Auckland City I was stumped as to what to start doing to pay my rent. Across the road from where I lived was the Sky City Casino and they were looking for staff in a bunch of the outlets and gaming floor. As I was still 19 I was too young to work on the gaming floor, but because I was a guy I was given an interview with one of the restaurants who were looking for more men to balance out the team. This was my first dip in. Now I admit, I was a joke when I first started. I was one of "those" workers, you know the ones. The ones that call in sick all the time, ask to go home early and just have an overall lack of effort. As time went on I slowly learned the trade and got better and better, learned how to make coffees and a few basic cocktails. I also gained confidence in talking to random strangers as I asked them what they would like to drink with their buffet dinner. But at no point in this 12-month experience did I ever think that I was now a hospitality worker. It was a means to an end.
Then in 2008, I moved to the Gold Coast in Australia, quit university, ran away from debts, ex-girlfriends, and just general life struggles. At the time I thought it was a great idea and it would solve all my problems. Instead I was young, dumb and well you know the rest. I was unemployed for 3 months. In that time all I achieved was to learn how to solve a Rubix cube in less than a minute and a half. Don’t get me wrong I still pull out that trick at parties but it didn’t exactly help me eat or pay rent. Instead I bludged heavily on other people and ruined friendships because of my incompetence. I managed to find a job at a factory that lasted a month before getting fired for not showing up enough. Then along came Holiday Inn Surfers Paradise. I remember when I took this job I felt like I was getting desperate and this was my job to keep me afloat not actually start a career in. I mean, it was hospitality. People only work in hospitality while studying for their real job right?
Well 12 months went by and I found myself standing with an eventual very good friend who at the time was my big boss. My F&B Manager. He asked me if I wanted to make something of my career and take this job seriously for once. After a few days I came back and told him I was in. I was going to do whatever it took to become the best F&B Attendant at the hotel. And within 6 months I was promoted to a team leader. I spent the summer as this team leader and by the end of it the timing was perfect and I managed to land an F&B Supervisor job. My career had really started. I was now a salaried worker for the first time in my life, I had responsibility and I guess I still felt I had nothing better going for me so I would stick at it and not screw it up.
Of course I almost screwed it up a number of times. What can I say? I get bored and when I'm bored I do dumb stuff. After a couple of secondments at other properties around the country I landed the Meetings & Events Manager at Holiday Inn Brisbane. It was now 2011 and I had a 12-month contract. I had already decided with my partner at the time that at the end of the contract we would go travelling and head to London to live. So after 12 months of intense personal growth that is just what I did. I had really become an adult at this point and my career was no longer something that I did because nothing else was going to pay the bills. I was doing it because I just overcome the hardest 12 months of work in my life and I loved it. I grew leaps and bounds as a leader and enjoyed the rush. It is hard to explain but I started to feel satisfaction for overcoming all the challenges being thrown at me.
So 2012, I just finished 3 months of travelling Asia and landed in London, the next day I had a job interview for a little restaurant called Charlotte’s Place. The day after I was at a two-day trial and then I was hired as the Assistant Restaurant Manager. I was now running one of the most successful independent restaurants in London. We ended up winning Top Restaurant in London in the Good Food Guide awards while I was there.
7 months after arriving in London I had to head home due to family reasons and I found myself back at the Holiday Inn Surfers Paradise, but it was now called the Outrigger Surfers Paradise and I was the Restaurant & Bar Manager. I lasted here 9 months and although I had the worst General Manager ever, I learned so much here. I learned how to earn a pay cheque. This job was tough! I once served 700 customers for breakfast with 2 chefs and 6 wait staff, and the funny part was that I felt it was an easy day because of all the help that I had. I was used to doing 100-150 covers with one chef and one other staff member. That was my typical day. I never ran so much in a job ever. But what it taught me is efficiency and how to still offer a great customer experience with absolutely no staff. I had to think outside the box so often. I had to find ways of being prepared for everything. And I did. I was so good at it. We hardly ever had complaints at breakfast and we were getting smashed every day.
September 2013 I had had enough and I needed something else. I took on a role of Assistant Bar Manager at Palazzo Versace which lasted 6 weeks before being offered the role of Four Winds Restaurant Manager at the Crowne Plaza in Surfers Paradise, which evolved into the Assistant F&B Manager. And during these 13 or so months I learned more about leadership than ever before. My boss had a way of opening my eyes up to it and it all started to click. I started to realise why I was doing this. Why I was putting up with the unsociable hours, Why I continued to deal with delusional customers, Why I endured painful conversations with difficult or emotional staff. The concept hadn't completely formed in my head but it was starting to take shape and with success after success the picture started to become clearer and clearer.
And then December 2014, I got a transfer to Crowne Plaza Terrigal as the F&B Manager. This was it, I had reached department head level and this was kind of the pinnacle of my F&B career. Yeah I will go on to bigger roles with more revenue and more outlets and bigger teams but essentially it is all the same thing, just the stakes are higher. I am the authority on F&B in this hotel reporting directly to the General Manger and until I make the jump to a General Manager the dynamic of the role is never going to really change much from this. I will always report to the General Manager and I will from now on always be in charge of everything F&B. It’s been 16 months in this role now and I am on the verge of my next step. I have started applying for other roles and this time I am looking to Asia, specifically South East Asia.
So now I am in a position to explain my love for this industry, the challenges I face and the reason I keep asking for more, every time I think I have it all figured out and have taken my department or hotel to new heights I realise that the goal posts have picked up and run away from me. Maybe only last year did I really realise there is no perfect hotel or perfect restaurant. You can always be better, you can always improve. And that goes for everything in life. Don't just accept mediocrity.
I now wake up each morning and ask myself "What can I do today to improve on yesterday?"
Talk to you next week bro.
Stanley