Even though we've had such crazy weather in recent weeks, it was fabulous to see so many people hitting the roads over the weekend and getting out to enjoy the things that make New Zealand such a special place to live.

I even took Daisy the Defender of New Zealand for a spin to Hamilton on Sunday, and it was amazing to see just how many vehicles were out doing the same thing with the obligatory children, surfboards, kayaks, road and mountain bikes attached to various parts of their exteriors.

The good news is that many of us will be encouraged to continue this now that we have the Government’s promise of reduced fuel taxes and road user charges through until January of next year.

This is fantastic news for those of us with diesel vehicles.

But! I guess if you really want to move people away from using fossil fuelled combustion engines, then you'd probably make using them less attractive rather than something to look forward to on weekends, wouldn't you?

But most of us can't bring ourselves to buy from the small, ugly choice of electric cars on the market and more importantly, you can't tell me that the cost of fuel will increase dramatically with an election so close at hand.

Surely it is the simple, tangible and personally measurable aspects of life that encourage us to vote one way or another, don't you think?