My Perfect Weekend: Ohakune's David 'Rabbit' Nottage

Rabbit spends his weekends often dreaming of his favourite holiday spots. Photo / Supplied

Each week we ask locals to describe how they would spend an ideal weekend in the region.

This week Emma Bernard talks to Ohakune contractor and Ruapehu district councillor David Nottage, commonly known as Rabbit.

I do anything and everything. I'm not a boring fart.

For me, weekends can be the busiest time for working. All the chalet owners are in town and want work done to their places.

So I'll often work and save up to go overseas at Christmas time.

So that would be my perfect weekend, saving up and thinking about my next holiday.

It hasn't happened in the last few years of course, but I usually go to Ukraine and Russia.

All those places on the news, I've been there many times. Been to Ukraine nine times and Russia three times.

I love it there, eh. The history, the food, the museums. When people say they have a happy place, travelling there is my happy place.

In Ohakune, our street has drinks on Friday nights. I like to go to that when I can, it's such a cool street.

I'd also go mountain biking in my ideal weekend. I try get around them all. I used to ride the Old Coach Road before it became Old Coach Road, and we didn't even realise it was the road the old coach would go on.

If I go out in the weekend in Ohakune, I try to spend my money at all the businesses. It's a small town and it's nice to support everyone.

I have four trucks, and my truck business is Rabbit Express. All my trucks are classic, they're easy to maintain but they just need some TLC. It's like the new cars, you've got to be a bloody computer whizz to drive them."

I used to spend all my money at Hot Lava bar. It's not there anymore but it used to be the only thing open at the Ohakune Junction.

Then I thought I'm wasting my money here, so I bought some land and started building my log house in the weekends, which I now live in.

Otherwise, I'd go snowboarding.