Only in NZ…
As a stand by emergency last resort for when I can’t find any inmates willing to reveal their fishy success stories, SWMBO thought these bike images were more suitable for today’s fishing report.
This is a story that needs to be told, about “honesty”.
Images below are what can happen when you leave a bike chained up overnight in London – they get totally stripped – wheels, seat, handle bar, pedals, etc. The number of commuter & mountain recreational bikes seen in London and everywhere else in England was surprising and indicates the huge growth in healthy personal transport in cities – spoilt only by many other similar frames locked at bike stands, which illustrates what an honest society NZ is, which brings us to today’s real fishy story. TRM have mentioned before that there are no secrets on the Tongariro. In a small village like Turangi there are no secrets either. Usually I like it that way – until now, when the joke was on me. Perhaps this confessional report should have been posted as soon as we returned from Her Shopping trip to UK. Naturally I did not want to illustrate how foolish I can be but everyone knew anyway. Locals are still reminding me. So it is time to confess.
For our recent trip we arranged for a local shuttle bus to collect us before daylight and take us to Auckland Airport. So we gathered at the roadside in the dark and the van arrived right on time and swiftly took us direct to Auckland International terminal. Then the driver helped us unload and drove off while we booked in etc. OK so far. Then when i reached into my pocket for my wallet I discovered it missing. Yikes! The wallet held all my money – hundreds in NZ dollars and English pounds – plus credit cards, etc. So what to do?. If I phoned the bank to cancel the credit cards then SWMBO’s shopping trip would be over too. So we flew away worrying about all the options and procedures in such situations.
About 14 hours later we booked into a hotel in Hong Kong for a stop-over on our way to England. At reception was an email from TRM advising they had been contacted by the shuttle firm – that the wallet had been found in the shuttle van and – unbelievably – the driver had deposited it in his home safe for me to collect on our return. Amazing! Imagine that happening in Sydney? New York? London?
What can I say but only in NZ...
A month later, when we returned, we contacted him and they even delivered it to my son’s address on the North Shore. Seriously, where else on earth would that happen? So today’s TRM Fishing Report is to advertise and highly recommend:
“North Shore Shuttle Service”
Ph 480 0248
email: shore.shuttles@xtra.co.nz
Continuing correspondence on SWMBO’s shopping trip from MB –
….. I enjoyed SWMBO photos and script. I could not raise any enthusiasm for any fishery I saw in the whole of the UK. Not even Scotland. You are absolutely right we don’t know how fortunate we are. The Cathedral lead lights were beautiful. I was in Winchester too…