Hard Rain ...

"Wild wind and rain which lashed the lower North Island overnight continued to cause havoc today, with slips closing several roads in the region.

Wellington police Inspector Peter Stokes said a large slip had blocked State Highway 4 at Tapuwahine - about 10 Km north of Taumaranui today.

The slip covered both lanes and road-work crews were working to try to clear the highway, he said.

Mr Stokes said a number of slips along the highway had been reported and he warned motorists to expect long delays while the slips were being cleared." (Stuff)

A busy day....

The phone went at some ungodly hour this morning, "Tree down".

It was really blowing and very wet.

I dismembered the said tree, to the sympathetic toots from passing truckies.

The day got steadily worse, I got steadily wetter.

The crew were tackling small slips when I caught up with them, the boys on SH 4 were cutting their way out of town (Taumaranui) and said it was "like Armageddon over there".

We have a big clean up job ahead, culverts are blocked, there are small slips everywhere, and the potholes have awoken.

In the afternoon a truck blew an airline to his gearbox on a very dodgy corner on Mt Messenger.

This corner is notorious for this sort of thing. It is steep and they are changing from high to low range with the danger of a missed gear and an embarrassing stall. The surface is also greasy and they often break traction.

When they are heading downhill and braking hard they stress the road surface. You can see the damage in the foreground.

We were handy and directed traffic around the truck, which had to sit there and await a mechanic.


I have arrived here and seen a lone, very stressed, police officer going grey in front of my eyes, as all hell breaks loose.

The heavy uphill traffic doesn't want to stop and stall, the downhill traffic has it's fair share of would-be rally drivers, and trucks with hot brakes.

Chuck a few tourist camper vans into the mix and you have interesting times.

It's stopped raining, but the rivers are high, the ground saturated.

I don't think it's over yet ....

Hoots Mon

There are some who don't like bagpipes.

The McFarts, of course love them.

There is nothing like the skirl of the pipes.

Just out of earshot ...

Job Destruction...

There is a time honoured tradition, that having finished your brand new piece of road, someone comes along and digs it up again.

Water, telephone & other services, send along a separate crew, each of whom dig madly away.

This creates lots of work for everybody, even the bean counters.

There are arguments about responsibility and cost, & of course it leaves a patchwork mess.

The same piece of road can be reinstated a zillion times.

This also helps our global, "Congest The Traffic Scheme"

We are letting the side down badly, I fear.

This stretch of road through Mokau has us working down one side, and a new water main being laid on the other.

The shoulders will be filled, and a new road surface constructed on top of the old one.

It makes the work site a bit crowded, but at least we can watch each other.

Fancy doing everything at once !

The efficiency.

The horror !

Hope nobody finds out

I'll never get a ticket to the Roadworker's Ball ....

Droving ...

Llew has a problem.

He has some sheep to cart.


Can't see the problem myself.


There is always the motor bike...

Bringing Home The Bacon.

We get paid fortnightly.

December is a bit of a problem.

I've just worked out that payday is 2 days past Christmas.

Damn!

Oh well, Happy New Year ...

Come In 77, Your Time Is Up.

Every now and then we get cars dumped on Mt Messenger.

There is one dumper I have been after for years.

The cars are usually very "used", they have been through a demolition derby.

They always have the number 77 crudely painted on them.

Yesterday I glanced up to see an old truck head north with an as yet undamaged car on a trailer.

It had 77 painted on it.

I took off after it and prayed the bastard would stop in Mokau.

He did.

Long enough to get a couple of photos & a name off his truck.

Dump this one mate, and you are gone!

In The Shit.

This is a "Stock Truck Effluent Disposal Facility"

A Blocked Stock Truck Effluent Disposal Facility.

It is gingerly being unblocked with a water blaster.

They made a good job.

Today I spotted a truckie forlornly wandering the road looking for his lost wheels.

He had lost the back set off his trailer.

He had pulled in here off the road.

We found one wheel, I gave him a hand to get to his truck. The other was nowhere to be found.

He had work done a week ago and the wheel had worked loose.

This happens surprisingly often

We use plastic clip on indicators on our wheel nuts.

You can see at a glance if they are working loose.

You don't want to end up in the shit ....

Captions ???

The Catering Committee meets following field trials of the new Garlic, Onion & Bean Pizza....

Product Placement.

I resisted the impulse below.

But it would be a shame not to use it....

Worm Fodder

The CB started to chatter as I neared work this morning.
The truckies were talking about an accident.

My spirits rose, a change from the daily pot hole feeding.

Then I heard it was a truck carting to the local "worm farm."

Some of these trucks cart foul & evil smelling bits of dead chickens and stuff.

My foot lifted a bit off the gas.

Cleaning up after previous accidents have become legendary topics.

Roadworkers heaving and gagging as they raked up putrid chicken carcasses. clothing that has become so rank you have to throw it away afterwards...

I decided to have two pies for breakfast while I could still get them down.

Over the road from the shop they were loading up the damaged truck.

It didn't look too bad.

When I arrived at the scene the remains of the trailer were only good for scrap.

Happily though the load was mulch for composting.

Sweet smelling and not unpleasant.

The digger soon got rid of the remains.

The pies stayed put ...

Party, Party, ...

Might just slip down to the kindergarten for a
beer...

"Kindergarten kids under spotlight after boozy break-in"
Link

Breeding Season

"Police and emergency services are being kept busy and motorists have had their travel plans disrupted after rain drenched parts of the lower North Island overnight." (Stuff)

We have just has small slips so far.

The weather has caused optimum pothole breeding conditions however.

I already know what next weeks work will be ....

Caution ! Hump.

You never know when you may crash in the desert and have to whisper a camel, or harpoon one to eat.

Therefore as a public service from
"The Road Workers Guide To Camel Whispering"

"How to Regain Control of a Spooked Camel"

screaming camel stuck in river


The sexual lust of the camel,
Is greater than anyone thinks,
And when his obsession obsesses him,
He makes it straight away for the Sphinx.
Now the Sphinx's anterior orifice,
Is covered with sands from the Nile.
Which explains the hump on the camel,
And the Sphinx's inscrutable smile.
(Henry Filsinger)

"...the hump being considered a delicacy (Dickson, 1951). It is eaten raw, while still warm, but after it cools down it is boiled before it is eaten"

"Camel has a sweet mutton like taste and is imported from Africa. All our Camel is supplied vacuum packed and frozen."

1 whole camel, medium size ( 100 servings)

Australian Camel News

World's Biggest Camel Toe Sighting

Baby Camel Photos

Camel wrestling

Camel Pilot

There now, ... it always pays to be prepared...

Discovery

Now and then, while slaving away over a hot highway I will be "discovered"

"Are you the internet road worker guy?"

I usually don't own up.

If pushed I will claim that this fabulous man works further down the road and truly is a legend of the asphalt, revered by truckies, and all who push a shovel.

Some, who must be from away, use cunning detective work to bust my cover.

This amuses the rest of the crew greatly.

Quite often now I am startled by a knowing greeting, sometimes from foreign camper vans.

It may seem a bit odd, but talking to a computer is one thing, being recognized on the road another ...

And no matt, that bus hasn't turned up yet ...

(make your own Tee Shirt)

"Horizontal is like, ... up and down, ... right " ?

The new Sky satellite is a wondrous thing.

It can beam a tight strong signal to NZ, giving the potential to broadcast high definition TV and all sorts of goodies.

There is a coverage map here

Except there has been a wee problem ....

"The antenna on the Optus D1 satellite to be used to broadcast Sky TV and future digital services to New Zealanders was fixed at a wrong angle when assembled, industry sources say."


"Tony Dunnett of Auckland Teleport says his understanding is the vertical transponder set for New Zealand is now horizontal and the horizontal transponder set for Australia is now vertical."

Whoops wrong aerial !

The Warranty repairman is going to need a very long ladder ...

Brotherhood

A Road Worker died today.

He was out in a gale, clearing debris, and was killed by a falling tree.

It might have happened far away

But I still feel like it's one of us ...

Doing It Right ...

This truck driver has unselfishly crashed his truck well off the road.

This is to be commended.

We will still probably have to close a lane to salvage it, but still,
very thoughtful...

I did thank him, ... but he did look at me a bit funny...

Shock, I suppose...

Blind Luck

We have been sweeping intersections with a broom tractor today.

This involves a pilot vehicle in front, the tractor, and me at the rear.

We are in radio contact.

Trundling gently along SH4 today we stumbled on this.
(Click Pic for Biggery)

The truck and trailer has off loaded a forklift, and the driver is happily unloading pallets of farm supplies, and taking them up a drive.


The fact that there is a blind corner in front of him doesn't seem to have him worried at all.

Write Off

In the cold light of day, and once pulled out from my fence, the damage looks much worse.

In fact a "write off".

Unable to get at the battery and with two door lights glowing all night, I was woken twice by well meaning rescuers.

(Despite it being surrounded by cones)

Today I pulled it out and put it in a paddock next door.

I might be able to open a wrecking yard soon ...

Put The Cone Out And They Will Come ...

This is taken from my gateway.

The car, travelling away from the camera, has taken out a tree, and is extensively damaged.

Car crashes make a hell of a noise.

Watching England's latest rugby humiliation from my couch, I heard it coming and was out the door as it impacted.

The woman driving was scratched and shaken.

She had unerringly nailed my "On Duty" road cone outside the gate.

I had to cut the tree off the car, a passing car club giving a hand.

At least it ended up off the road ...

Truce

Sometimes we do a bit of work around Mokau.

We have been putting in a driveway to one of the local holiday homes.

It has been a breezy day, and rather rough at sea, but an enjoyable job.

It makes a real change to have no traffic to worry about, you don't realize how stressful this can be until suddenly it isn't there.

It is a bit like a temporary ceasefire on a battlefield.

You can chat without the roar of trucks interrupting, you can stand back and admire your work, and best of all, it was only a short walk to the pie shop...

Holidays ...

It looks like I might get a holiday this Christmas.

I like holidays.

Problem is I hate having them when everybody else does.

Crowds and less than optimum fishing, the weather is often lousy.

Mostly I miss the smugness that one feels lounging about when everybody else is toiling away.

America Speaks

I've been watching the US elections.

Gripping stuff.

You can feel the global sigh of relief ...

Express Delivery

Another shipment of pothole forms nears our depot...

Restoration ...

I still seem to be the only road worker with a blog.
(There is some wannabe Bill Gates loser fellow at No 2)

The responsibility and pressure is enormous.

I've been pondering this today as yet another birthday rolls by, and the final pothole gets closer, with me in it ...

Tends to get you down.

Really there is only one thing you can do about it

Be a man.

So I have taken the day off and watched the cricket and the rugby on the couch.

It was all very excellent.

I am restored ...

I Am The Walrus ...

Oswald is right.

There are always distractions ...

Fuel Crisis ...

This is the northern end of our stretch of highway.

Here it is getting a little titivation.

We often get cars stopping that have missed this turn off and ended up miles out of their way.

Then they often forget to get petrol, service stations are few and far between on these roads.

The results are inevitable.

We always remind lost travellers to fill up at the next fuel stop before they do their U turn and hurtle back a 100 kms or more with the needle on E.

Saves cluttering up our road with abandoned cars ....

Duel At Deadmans Creek

"A man will appear in the Westport District Court this morning on firearms charges following an Armed Offenders callout near the town yesterday.

Police say an argument over whitebait is believed to have sparked the incident, where several shots were reported to have been fired close to whitebaiters at Deadman's Creek, north of Westport.

Police from Nelson and Greymouth surrounded a nearby house and after some negotiating a man gave himself up peacefully."
Link

They take their whitebaiting seriously on the West coast...

House Proud

There, that looks better.

The shack comes up well with a bit of a tidy up...

Nothing like a bit of spring cleaning.

Tomorrow the garage ....

Quacks cold shoulder worms

"Party pills containing the ingredient Benzylpiperazine (BZP) can cause seizures, paranoia and hypothermia, and people should stay away from them altogether, the New Zealand Medical Association says.

The legal status of pills containing BZP, originally developed as a drug to treat cattle with worms, is under question, and the association recommended in a statement today that people should not take them until their status is determined."
NZH

Of course if you are suffering from worms a good party will do the trick.

Never did me any harm. Thats me and the boy on my 19th birthday.

A picture of parasite free health....

(worm remedies)