My Account
Trucking good advice
Allan Weeks, Ōrewa
I’ve come to the conclusion that the biggest industry here on the Coast is trucks. My property looks across to Grand Drive and I would say that roughly every fourth vehicle is a truck hauling earth. They haul it up Grand Drive and they haul it down Grand Drive. Where on earth does it all go? Anyway, fast-forward 10 years when all the houses are built and there is a trucking industry slump – that’s the time to invest in a shop that sells orange road cones. You can’t miss. No charge for this advice.
Postcode delays ambulance
Marsden B Robinson, Silverdale (abridged)
I am writing about the article in Hibiscus and Mahurangi Matters about Puhoi postcodes (HM, March 3). I live in Weranui Road, about 5km inland from Waiwera, and not very far from Silverdale. The postcode here is 0994 – this is also the postcode for Puhoi, which is many miles away from me, and Warkworth, which is even further away. Parcels and letters sent to me at ‘RD1 Silverdale, 0994’, often have “not Puhoi” handwritten on them. Obviously they have gone to Puhoi first, and somebody there has readdressed them. Recently a parcel sent to me from Invercargill went to South Auckland, then Puhoi, then South Auckland again, then to Puhoi again; it eventually arrived having spent nearly two weeks in transit. My local postie tells me that he and his colleagues ignore postcodes, and I can see why. In future I’m going to tell people that my address is ‘RD1 Silverdale’, not Puhoi, and I will omit the postcode entirely. That said, one company that I deal with in Invercargill, that posts parcels to me, tells me that couriers will not accept them addressed to ‘RD1 Silverdale’, unless the word Puhoi is also included. It appears that St John’s Ambulance use the same address system. When I phoned Silverdale St John to get an ambulance, it went to Puhoi because that’s what their directory said. That delayed it by about 25 minutes – just as well I hadn’t had a heart attack!
Natural odour solution
Irmengard Wohlfart, Manly
We have an open creek alongside/on our property in Manly and we love it. Mature native trees, and kahikatea I brought over from our Arkles Bay property around 16 years ago are thriving in it. Residents near the D’Oyly wetland (HM March 17) could help plant these water-loving trees and suitable reeds to eliminate the smell.
Haley Dudley of Tindalls Bay had no idea when she began making little Christmas cups filled with treats for her five children that the idea would take off, benefitting local families and Starship Hospital patients. The cups contain everything you need to make a Christmas Eve hot chocolate, and she made them again at Easter, filling them with treats. Friends asked to purchase some cups to give away and eventually more than 40 were sponsored. Ten went to Starship Hospital last week in time for Easter, and the rest were given to local children to brighten up the holiday. Haley says she may do it again next Christmas. Info is on her Facebook page, Haleyrious Dudley.
Maygrove Residents Association held their annual picnic beside Maygrove Lake in Ōrewa on Sunday, March 21. Eighty residents enjoyed the fine weather and fellowship on Neighbours Day, the gumboot-throwing contest was the highlight.
Recently Hibiscus Rodders presented a cheque for $30,000 to the Hibiscus Coast Youth centre in Ōrewa – the proceeds of its Beach Festival in January. The Ōrewa event was scaled down this year, but Rodders spokesperson Sharon Morris says they were very pleased with the outcome and have had fabulous feedback. “With all the Covid challenges, we were very happy to keep it local and support our youth centre,” she says.
Stanmore Bay Leisure Centre recently celebrated the life of Linden Cowan, right,who died recently of cancer, by raising funds for hospice. Linden worked for the centre for about 16 years as group fitness manager. She created aqua classes and brought in the Les Mills programmes that are still successfully running there. Team fitness leader, Julie Bish, says Linden mentored many fitness instructors and touched hundreds of people’s lives with her energy and passion for exercise. In her memory, a fundraising Pump/Step class was held on March 20. Around 40 people attended, raising $500 for Hibiscus Hospice.
