NZ Passports now the worlds most expensive?

Finally someone noticed and wrote in the MSM about the Kiwi passport ripoff.

I'm surprised that there are 14,000 fewer passport renewals this year since travel must be on the increase, although I'm not sure if they're considering people who beat the new system and thereby possibly caused a peak last year. I got my 10 year passport just in time, although my son has a nice new 5 year one. Getting a 10 year passport expiry date will be moot however if the US starts to mandate only RFID'd passports for entry though, as they did for machine-readable ones. Only a matter of time I suspect.

The bare fact is that the price of passports quadrupled, since they halved the lifetime of the password while doubling the price. No other country felt the need to quadruple the price to pay for this technology either.

I can actually agree with the concept of refreshing passport technology for security reasons but what they fail to realise is that a passport effectively has a lifetime less than it's expiry date -- most countries want at least 6 months, and thats 6 months past the length of your intended stay. So you're left with a passport that works for ~4 years, minus the time you get it in advance of your first trip on it. What a bloody hassle.

While I'm ranting about the price of these passports, I also have to add that they're rigid and don't feel like they'll take a lot of riding in back pockets. My old one has come out U-shaped on occasion from that. Considering this is one document you like to keep with you (in some countries) they've gone from something that is reasonably robust -- it attracts interest but still works if you soak it in water -- to something that feels like it will break quite easily. Apparently a working RFID chip isn't required for entry as faults are normal and expected; I would assume that you'll get more scrutiny if it does fail though otherwise certain people would just microwave theirs.

Eureka Clothing, part 2

As posted last, Eureka Clothing, a Wellington-based boys clothing company. They just opened a shop in Vivian Street, and my wife got a chance to visit them last week during their opening celebrations.

I have returned from France to find my two boys clad in a lot of hardwearing Eureka gear. It is good stuff, and the addition of the repair kit really rounds out their story.

I wish them every success.