Thank you – it is so encouraging to receive feedback on TRM’s new book “Tongariro Skulduggery”. The latest message is:
Good morning Ross. I hope this finds you and Pip well and in good spirits.
I have just spent the last 4 nights burning the midnight oil in order to finish your book which I simply couldn’t put down (all the while resisting a very strong urge to cut straight through to the last page to find the outcome) and have now finished it. I thought it absolutely delightful and masterly. It was such a pleasure to read something with no spelling or grammatical errors etc. and I loved the dry humour and the way you introduced all the local topical problems with various Govt departments. I’m sure it will be a very successful fund raiser for the cause.
However I think this might be a good time to consider retiring to the Chathams or similar!!!
Kind regards.
One local identity cursed me as they believed the entire skull discovery story and wondered how they had missed it? Another was astonished about Sonny Jim’s sultry seduction and his role in the plot. TRM’s “white mouse” Flo has been having a good laugh at other misinterpretations such as who Sonny Jim really was?
But other out-of-town buyers (investors in first editions!) have asked for more info about the river restoration planned for all profits from TS book sales. The best way to answer that is to repeat a TRM report from 2019 which features the suspect beneficiary so you can decide whether it is a worthwhile cause?
 B______ We are not allowed to say or print the big B word any more (?) as freedom of speech is no longer acceptable – so I hope the above hedge design sneaks past the censors to express the feelings of so many when they read Dave’s message of frustration about MPI (Ministry of Primary Industries) and others failing their responsibility to front up at the Auckland boat show. The spooks have since deleted his comments from TRM facebook which proves he must be stepping on precious toes in the Kremlin?  Sometimes it is necessary to go to extraordinary lengths to get the CCD message across. Dave commented: “this is the 5th year in a row that MPI officials in Wellington who have never been to the show have decided it’s not value for money to have a stand there promoting the CHECK CLEAN DRY programme.” Anyone remotely concerned about protecting the environment would have to agree. This would appear to be the perfect venue for promoting the CHECK CLEAN DRY (CCD) message and other conservation concerns to anglers – with about 35,000 boaties and fishos attending – but they just can’t be bothered. Ditto with the other Government agencies who go through the PC motions to be seen to protect NZ bio-diversity – i.e. to prevent any further spread of Didymo by CCD, but do nothing more.  Everyone is sick and tired of these over-paid public servants in official uniforms driving around to impress their bosses but when it comes to the nitty-gritty crunch they cannot afford one person to attend the show to spread the CCD message. They really are pathetic.  Dave has fronted for about 15 years, mainly on his own, with missionary zeal as the local “Protector of our Waterways”. This involves much more than just CCD as indicated. His biggest efforts are with local youth educating them the environmental stuff that formal education systems could never manage or even imagine… Meanwhile Government Departments and Councils (Local and regional) burn millions in huge salaries and vehicles and offices etc. without ever achieving as much as this one individual.  In discussion with them when I have asked why they cannot support him more they claim he is a loose cannon? Dave rejoices in this as recently posted on his facebook page by completing road repairs – where his shovel and sweat fixed flooding problems – without trying to go through official channels which would involve budgets and quotes and reports and arranging traffic management teams armed with walkie-talkies with stop-go signs to protect him. It is overkill to a ridiculous level.  Dave does more on his own than any Government or Council can dare give him credit for as he is doing their (paid!) job more efficiently in every way. He exposes the bureacracy being strangled with their own red tape by following the phrase “Just do it”. That is why he is so effective in getting the message across to youth. He is an unrecognised hero in the Taupo-Turangi-Tongariro region and deserves far more support than he gets from officialdom.I liked this comment – added later:Don Truss wrote: Is that one of those Weasely Bastards from Wellington in Dave’s Hands. Was at the boat show 5 years ago. Dave in a set of tails and Brenda Lawson in a bikini drumming up a storm. Must have been the only free and most educational wandering stand at the show. Perhaps you both could do a role reversal. Brenda would look stunning in tails……  Sometimes Dave has had to step up when Councils fail their ratepayers… |