New book - "An Accidental Bushman"
An Accidental Bushman
The Making of a Forest Ranger
More great yarns from the author of Cannibals, Crocodiles and Cassowaries
Growing up in small town Taranaki, Ross wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. He just knew that he enjoyed hunting, hiking, trapping, fishing, and exploring the wilds of New Zealand. The outdoors was Ross’ element.
During his first year out of secondary school, a chance newspaper advertisement launched Ross upon a career that would take him through many adventures over four decades, through 42 countries, and innumerable close shaves.
In An Accidental Bushman (the prequel to Cannibals, Crocodiles and Cassowaries, published in 2019), Ross tells about how it all came to be—and about some of the incorrigible larrikins, precarious predicaments, and hair-raising exploits that shaped his training and early career as a Forest Ranger in New Zealand.
Ross has a way of telling a story that draws you into the moment and sweeps you along with the action. There are plenty of laughs (some at Ross’s expense) and enough scrapes and shenanigans to make you wonder how Ross ever survived to write the book!
An Accidental Bushman sometimes reads like a hilarious instruction book of what not to do, with many of Ross’s ill-fated adventures stemming from what simply seems like a good idea at the time—like his disastrous introduction to boating with no experience, no safety gear, and ultimately no working engine! Ross makes a habit of crashing vehicles, manufactures cyanide possum bait (and lives to tell the tale), gets seriously lost in the bush, spends a night in a haunted hut, gets marooned on an island amidst swirling floodwaters, contracts hypothermia, and survives some memorable culinary disasters. It’s clear that without his uncanny knack of always falling on his feet, Ross wouldn’t be with us to tell these stories today.
Ross also shares yarns of the colourful bunch of larrikins with whom he trained, worked, and socialised, regaling us with tales of interrupted trysts, foul revenge, forest fires, thieving wildlife, crippling hangovers, poaching, parties, and motorised mayhem.
The book includes some 60 photographs from Ross’s vast collection which richly illustrate his writing.
Settle in for another book of rip-roaring adventures that’s as hard to put down as the last one!
Poll: Should employees be able to work from home?
At the post-Cabinet press conference, the National Party asserted they want public sector staff to return to the office. This has opened a conversation about other sectors in New Zealand who have adopted working from home (WFH).
Where possible, do you think employees should be able to work from home? Vote below and share your thoughts in the comments.
-
69.7% Yes
-
27% No
-
3.2% Other - I'll share below
Rubbish bins
I posted a message about the disappearing rubbish bins in Whangarei a week or so ago (but I limited the area). However, I’ll leave this open to a wider area this time. Apparently this is not just limited to Whangarei. However, I went to the Whangarei District Council website, and sent a general enquiry email as to why this was happening. About a week later, I did get a phone call back. I had mentioned two particular bins that had been removed. The man I spoke with was not aware they had been removed! What I found out is that the rubbish bins are emptied by an outside contractor, not city workers. They come and say they find maybe a single coffee cup in a bin and think the bin doesn’t need to be there, so THEY remove the bin! The more I thought about this, the more I thought this is pure laziness - the more bins removed, the less work that has to be done. How much effort does it take to look in a bin and see the liner does not need to be changed? Where one bin has been removed, there is now rubbish in it’s place. I noticed the bins at a couple of bus stops have also been removed, and there is rubbish on the ground - exactly where the bins used to be! I have been told that one of the bins I emailed about will be replaced. And I will follow up on that if it isn’t back in place in two weeks. (This outside contractor is also supposed to be picking up rubbish twice a week along the Kamo shared pathway as well!)
So - if you noticed bins are missing and they need to be put back, send an email to WDC and tell them the location and that there is rubbish there and the bin needs to be replaced! Rate payers are paying for this service, no doubt.
This one was sent in by your fellow neighbour, can you figure it out?
What is first white then red and the plumper it gets the more the old lady likes it?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.
Loading…
