Wally's tales

The Airlines are all suffering a lot of flak from the public because of their increasing strict regime of security screening. Passengers are being asked to remove their shoes and in some cases prosthetic devices all detected by over zealous security officers in addition to their already invasive ‘pat downs.’ When you look at many of the times the terrorists have actually penetrated their screening, it has been Airline Staff who were mainly at fault. Pan Am flight 103 London to New York it was unaccompanied baggage, that brought it down over Lockerbie. Same story with an Air India flight staff bamboozled by an aggressive passenger who never actually took the flight either. If the Security Staff are allowed to get away with their over zealous behaviour without some cry of protest, the day is not very far away when we will huddling past the check points completely in the Buff.

These two attacks which brought down Aircraft have resulted in an over reaction by the security staff. One passenger after a ‘Pat Down’ was asked to remove his colostomy bag. Another woman had a prosthetic breast detected and was asked to remove it. I don’t know what the answer is but it’s obvious that security need first to get their own house in order. You don’t have to be an genius to work out that there is going to be a serious turn off with Passengers opting out altogether from Air Line Travel, or bypassing Countries that are too strict in their security requirements. This is already happening with passengers on Route to Europe, going to great lengths to avoid a stop over in the USA.

I have a few stories of my own experiences with flight staff, for a start I must admit I was completely in the wrong. We had been for a Holiday to New Caledonia. On our return to Auckland we decided to spend a few days touring the City. I hired a car to make the most of our short break. We were lucky as we had the use of a house belonging to the French family we had been staying with in New Caledonia. We enjoyed our visits to supermarkets, something we didn’t have back home. Mt Cook Airlines also came into the story, as over the years I had been very good to them, although they didn’t Bank with me, on very many occasions I assisted them with the conversion of foreign money on weekends. To give me a payback when they learnt I was travelling overseas offered half price Tickets, within New Zealand for me and family. However the Queenstown Christchurch leg was so expensive, I declined their offer, and did what we always did, we drove our car to Christchurch and saved $750.

While Supermarket shopping in Auckland Lynn spotted large orchids for sale. Large Cymbidium plants with several flower spikes for sale at $9.99. Wow! Back home you wouldn’t get even one flower for that price. Could she buy one plant to take home? I said, ‘We would never get it on board with our luggage’. She wasn’t put off. To cut a long story short, we ended up with Four plants, which and each were fitted snuggly into paper rubbish bags, with stapled tops. On walking into the Air Port Hall and about halfway to the Check In we were stopped by a female ‘Check In’ operator, calling out to us in a strident Voice. ‘Don’t think for one minute you are carrying all that that rubbish onto our Aircraft’! However she had not taken into account John McGlinchey who was manning the adjoining counter for Mt Cook, and watching this display of temper with interest. He also called out in a equally loud voice ‘Take no notice of that stupid Bitch Wally’. ‘We will fly you and your packages home’. The stupid B. from Air New Zealand, (John’s description not mine), had no way of knowing that I had financed John into his home when he was finding it difficult. Indecision, indecision, The poor girl, Should I give in and accept their luggage, or stick to my guns. She caved in, and said, ‘This time only, we will take your several items’. And face was saved all around. We arrived home with only one broken bud.

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In my youth not many people travelled far from home. For a start, very few owned a motor vehicle. So you either walked, or used a bike for short journeys. For longer trips, Rail was the most popular and in many places the only option, However it gave a very good service, but by today’s standards, slow. As we had nothing else to measure it by, we were happy with it. For obvious reasons busses or any form of motorised traffic was not popular, possibly because our roads were so bad. Seal as we now know it, was reserved for main streets of some towns only, or perhaps some city streets. Tradesmen such as plumbers, carpenters would arrive at your home, to carry out a job, either on foot, or by a push bike with some of their material strapped their machine. If they required more, it would be most likely delivered to them by a local carrier, equipped with a horse and cart, and only latterly, by a van. A trip from Dunedin to say Queenstown was a major under taking, requiring the best part of a day to negotiate bad roads and obstacles unheard of today, such as sand drifts on central roads, which were difficult unless you had carried a shovel with all the other tools.

I remember a story Jessie Neilson (My Mother in Law) told me of her first teaching assignment, that summed up the difficulties of getting around. Teachers back then had to put in a couple of years ‘Country Service’ and hers was at Henley. This was a small settlement about 25 miles South from Dunedin. To get there she took the train to Dunedin from Port Chalmers. Then Transferred to another for Mosgiel. Picked up her bike from the Guards Van, then cycled down the Main South Road the remaining 10 miles or so. The road in those days was not sealed. For her working week, she was boarded out by a parent family until Friday, and then she repeated her trek in reverse.

Motor vehicles, like telephones, were few and far between. In fact the Port Chalmers telephone system was closed down very night by the local manual exchange, about 11-00pm. The local doctors, Police, Fire Station, Harbour Board, and a local Call Box, These were all plugged the into Dunedin Exchange by five lines that were available, so some had a limited service, the rest of the town could wait to 6-00am the next day.

The Fire Station didn’t have any electronic aids just a system of Bells on towers all set at different points around the town, you needed to recognise the tone of each bell the know where the fire was. An alarm or siren at the station came much later. But the bells alone were sufficient to muster the volunteers firemen.

I heard on the Radio recently, a documentary about the Haast Road’s commissioning. Many were calling in and giving their stories, of life before the Road opened in the area, and life in general of the small land locked communities, in and around Haast. Also there were stories from other people, some of whom actually worked on the construction of the road.

The only access to the Haast prior to the opening of this road was by sea or a cattle track from the Haast, this rough route could get in and out of this remote area, it ran along the Coast whenever the terrain allowed, and it’s traverse was only possible providing, you had several days to spare, and the rivers were ‘down’. You could also arrange to take a fishing boat trip along the Coast, to Hokotika or Greymouth, even this method took a day. The Haast Road was initially mooted as an unemployment scheme, but this enterprise was abandoned during the War years. Popeye Lucas and Bill Hewett after the War ran an small light plane Air charter service on demand to the area. But then, their landings were on a beach. or a makeshift strip. They also made a feature of flying out whitebait catches. And later crayfish tails, during their seasons.

Doug Maxwell and I walked in from the Wanaka, the Makarora end to about as far as the Gates of the Haast. That’s not quite correct, as we drove as far as we could, and then walked as far as the early builders had got to. None of this was easy, although there were bridges, pristine and every thing a bridge should be, but they had no approaches, or if they ever had these necessary parts of a bridge in the past. Without fail they had all been washed away. The bridges were just concrete structures, sitting in the middle of the river. However some enterprising fellows had left planks on the bridges, which we soon guessed why they were there, and we used them to drive on and off each bridge. There were several of these, all of which we negotiated carefully.

We didn’t meet any Deer Cullers in there, but we knew they were around, as in one workman’s hut there were unopened cases of .303 Cartridges still in their Army containers. Enough to start a war if you wanted to. They must have hunted out the immediate areas, as on our trip we never sighted any game. Nor did we sight any fellow humans. There were extensive signs of deer in the beech forest, as they had eaten out all of the undergrowth. So much so that you could now walk through the forest unimpeded by any secondary growth. As we were working our way towards the coast, the thought crossed my mind many times what a wonderful area this road was negotiating and opening up. The views were breathtaking, and everytime you turned a corner it opened up yet another wonderful vista.

What a wonderful asset the Road is. I estimate that It would only carry about 10% domestic traffic, and the rest would be Tourists. Not just overseas people, but enabling New Zealanders to now see their own country. The builders have made a wonderful job, the Forrest has been preserved where it could be, and in most parts the forest actually starts from the very edge of the road, which nowadays is sealed from one end to the other.

Personally I would like to see a little more of this country opened up and a loop road completed so that you didn’t have to retrace you steps when you drive into Milford Sound. Had the Green Party had been around when the Haast road was being mooted, for certain there wouldn’t have been any road. They would have found five hundred reasons why the road shouldn’t be built.

This City is still suffering from the earthquake even after two months. In some cases you could be forgiven if you thought the event was only yesterday as nothing has happened to restore our buildings. Many small businesses have never reopened, especially those housed in or near what they call ‘Heritage Buildings’. Most of these are still found in ‘strips’ throughout the City. When one falls over or are damaged it severely effects all others. In Colombo Street where my Chemist is situated, the four or five adjoining buildings are still sitting after two months exactly how the earthquake left them. Unfortunately, this strip has all been badly effected. To compound their problem, one owner told me, they all have different land Lords, and to complicate it even further, different Insurance Companies. So after two months of driving around piles of bricks which belongs to the aforementioned shops. They still don’t know when can they be pulled down and rebuilt, or that they can commence trading again. As it now, the road is reduced to one lane each way, as well, one side of the street is fenced off. Also, the question is, will they be able to afford the new rental, when and if they are rebuilt? The Earthquakes have never stopped, as today we must have had more than a thousand or so, many of these were insignificant but some were in the 4 or 5 on the Richter scale. As if this wasn’t enough, Colombo Street further up the street, close the overbridge, is reduced to only one way and one lane only. I should say that I personally must be getting used to then. as I’m starting to sleep through many. What does happen is that the earthquake triggers off dreams, but I don’t wake, and so far they have all been bad dreams.

I suppose I shouldn’t complain as we still have a roof over our head, no job or business to worry about. Apart from the getting around town, and a temporary loss of power and water, we have been relatively untouched except I’m like everyone one else, waiting for the next big one.

From time to time, you read or hear about other peoples troubles. Some of the scenarios are so stupid, you have to laugh. One woman whose home had been declared safe, went off shopping unconcerned. However on returning home, she was confronted with a home, that had been completely boarded up and sealed. It appears the authority had changed their mind about the state of her home, but somehow neglected to inform her.

Today I want to talk about Terrorists and Pirates. Many will jump to the conclusion when I mentioned Pirates, I’m talking about people helping themselves Intellectual Property and not paying on the Internet. More notice of these pirates is taken, yet they never physically do any harm, but only hurt you in the pocket. No I’m talking about the real kind of Pirate who have been with us forever, These are the kind who are out to Kill, Rob, or Kidnap, all on a grand scale, but very little notice of them is being taken.

In today’s world and as of old, we are plagued by Terrorists and pirates. Even if they don’t get to carry out their atrocities, after each attempt they still win, as even more restrictions are imposed onto us, each and every time when we travel. Currently we have to present ourselves a couple of hours early before departure when departing by Air. Remove our shoes, stand Obediently for a pat down, have anything sharp taken from us, no matter how small, or even how insignificant. Those carrying out these duties seem to have got carried away to point, that the whole exercise has now become ridiculous. Also, bottles of fluids are restricted in size. So the terrorists always win, because they subject whole Nations to a state where we are all chasing own tails. Having said that, and in spite of all the checks, we will never stop a determined terrorist. They will alway find a way, especially if they are prepared to sacrifice their own lives in each and every attempt.

What drives these people, I don’t know. They are supposed to be religious. Maybe they are, but as well they would required to have a very large degree of stupidity, or perhaps gullibility, to become a candidate of terror, to carry out their self imposed path of destruction. To swallow all the clap trap they are being fed. Especially what their religious leaders are programming into them. The need to be prepared to sacrifice their own lives when they blow themselves to smithereens. But for them not it’s not oblivion, when they take with them, the lives of the hated infidels. The only difference is they are told they will be met at the Pearly Gates and escorted into paradise. What a pity that someone has not managed to return, to tell them that they have been fooled, and all the expected virgins are old harridans, and that they all smelt like their camels.

If everyone followed the rules, by especially those in charge, they would be able to stop 99% of the attempts to bomb, or take out an Aircraft. The most successful attempts that have been made are when correct procedures were not followed. Unfortunately the prevention people have to be correct 100% of the times, where as the Terrorist only has to break through the security screen once, to achieve in his attempt of destruction.

The Pirates are a different matter, and have been active on the sea since man first pushed a boat out to sail the seven seas. They are not religious, but more honest in that they are only out for personal gain. By forbidding sailors to go about their lawful tasks unarmed, the authorities are making them sitting ducks. Trying to fend off a pirate with only a water hose is pathetic, and perhaps those who make these rules should also be sent out to sail around the Horn of Africa armed with a hose. They don’t seemed yet to have considered escorting vessels as we did during the war. Another ploy could be vessels armed to the teeth disguised and employed like the ‘Q’ ships.

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It was with surprise what I heard on the radio today. The latest court news relating to the eviction of three women by the Housing Department from their State homes, this was still on going. This eviction action was brought about by the women having ‘Mongrel’ gang connections whose members were constantly hanging around, and whose behaviour had been constant threat, and a source of annoyance to all the other tenants. Goodness me, when the Housing Department won their case which was a clean cut, to evict these women and troublesome partners, whose behaviour was turning the life of other tenants into something no one would want to put up with.

However it now seems, even though the Housing Department won their case they were not evicted. Because they won a ‘stay’ of eviction with an appeal, and other legal ploys, and have managed to delay any action for many months. It now seems they with the assistance of their legal team, and of course your money, which is being doled out by the bucket full from ‘Legal Aid’. They have tried every legal manoeuvre available, so far lost each and every manoeuvre. And who do you think who is really is paying for this judicial charade? You are, ‘Silly Billy’ All Legal Aid comes direct from the Public Purse. So far it must have cost the State at least a million dollars, which is only my guesstimate. It seems now it would have been cheaper to build each woman a new home, and gift it to them. I have every sympathy for the people who live near by. They seem to have been forgotten while lawyers played their legal games.

No one wants to live in close proximity of any Gang activity. These gang members are only tenants by default, being companions of the women concerned. They could be dubbed as a group ‘Neighbours from Hell’. As far as the Law is concerned after a year of this nonsense, only confirms my opinion that it’s a stupid Ass. It makes one wonder how far do you have to go in law, until it is deemed Vexatious. Everybody is intituled to their day in court. but not eighteen months. What is wrong here? is the judiciary pussy footing around. Or is it because they are Maoris? I have no proof of this, but am willing to bet my all that this so. The Maori leaders seem to be reluctant to tackle the gangs who have proved themselves to be a breeding ground for criminals. It has been reported too that they are a major supplier of drugs, in both the cultivation, and the manufacture of same.