Seems I am not the only Kiwi who used poetic license in order to inspire people to make survival preparations…

Jason Kerrison Ark

Jason Kerrison… created his own maelstrom by announcing plans to build an “ark” in preparation of the end of the Mayan calendar year.

…For the record, it’s not an ark Kerrison’s building but a resilient home made from shipping containers and shotcrete, a sprayable concrete that can deflect heat. The construction’s designed to take any natural or man-made disaster, the details of which he remains coy.

What he will tell us is that it’s being built in modules atop a hill with 320-degree views, 20 kilometres south of Kaitaia.

…It will undoubtedly take several years to complete and will cost “a f…load”. “It will hopefully take any natural or man-made disaster.” [Stuff NZ]

I sense a kindred spirit… I spoke of a bunker, and while the bunker was of the golfing kind, my survival preparations are otherwise real. As of last December I was well ahead of most survivalists in terms of readiness, but I still today have much more to achieve.

Food and water, they are cheap and easy. Land in a great location, plus infrastructure and equipment, that’s generally quite expensive.

For many years prior to 2012 I described the phenomenon as a “great excuse to prepare”. The end of the Mayan calendar may have been and gone (as best as we can tell), but the most likely scientific reasons for its existence – grid-killing solar storms and perilous comets – can still occur at any time.