{"id":23435,"date":"2023-02-21T11:45:55","date_gmt":"2023-02-21T16:45:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=23435"},"modified":"2023-02-21T11:49:44","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T16:49:44","slug":"episode-743-new-zealand-andrew-and-alan-meet-a-kiwi-rare-find-disciplined-by-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=23435","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 743 NEW ZEALAND….ANDREW AND ALAN MEET A KIWI….RARE FIND…DISCIPLINED BY POLICE"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NOTE:  POSSIBLY SOME READERS ARE CONSIDERING A HOLIDAY IN NEW ZEALAND,,,THIS STORY MAY <\/div>\n
HELP YOU DECIDE.<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
EPISODE 743  NEW ZEALAND,,, ANDREW AND ALAN MEET A  REAL KIWI\u2026BUNGY JUMP…DISCIPLINED BY POLICE<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
feb. 16, 2023<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
New Zealand surprises:  This month our 17 year old grand daughter is touring New Zealand.  Back packing and Bus Touring <\/div>\n
alone and making new friends along the way cautiously.  Decades ago we did the same thing,  Carefully most of the time but<\/div>\n
not all the time.  I am dedicating this Episode to Molly Skeoch whose adventures are yet to be told.<\/div>\n

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For the sake of other readers I hope the pictures and stories will encourage your travels.<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
TOURING  New Zealand a few years ago <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Story 1:  We were told it was very unlikely we would ever meet a Kiwi bird.  They are nocturnal and their numbers have been reduced<\/div>\n
due to the presence of stowaway rats.   So it was a big surprise when we were having a beer and sandwich along the way when<\/div>\n
a live Kiwi popped out of the brush and tip toed over to see us.   <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

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Story #2:   New Zealand offers spectacular scenery without the crowds.   In this case Marjorie is taking it easy at<\/div>\n
the mouth of a South Island glacier.  Nobody around but us.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Story #3:  How many sheep does it take to disguise a two lane highway for as far as the eye can see?  LOTS!  Count them.  Travellers who are in a rush  to get<\/div>\n
from point A to point B will be frustrated.   We rather enjoyed driving  at a sheep\u2019s pace.<\/div>\n
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Story #4:  THE BUNGY JUMP INTO A ROCK STREWN GORGE.<\/div>\n
If you look beside Marjorie\u2019s head in this photo you will see a man jumping off a bridge.  Suicide?  No, this was  (is?) the famous<\/div>\n
(infamous?) South Island New Zealand Bungy Jump.   And the man is our son Andrew doing the death defying jump with an elastic<\/div>\n
rope around his feet.     The drop is terrifying and each jumper has a guesswork length of rubber band.  A wrong guess would be fatal.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cDad, this is a once only chance.  I want to make the jump\/\u201c<\/div>\n
\u201cYou\u2019li smash your head on the rocks below.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThese guys know the exact length needed to jump and live.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Andrew jumped and lived needless to say\u2026.about a 300 foot free fall before the elastic <\/div>\n
rope takes hold and bounces the jumper up and down.  A perfect jump happens when the jumper can touch the<\/div>\n
water pool below.   Andrew made a small splash before he was yanked backwards.   Why do young people do this?  I have no answer<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
Story #5:  This story is a bit embarrassing.  Makes me look like a \u2018chancer\u2019\u2026a fool\u2026a rule breaker.  We were speeding along an empty<\/div>\n
south island highway.  totally at ease with Andrew\u2019s feet on the dashboard while I drove .  Rental car prohibits young drivers.   That was made<\/div>\n
clear when we rented.  \u201cIf violated the car will be taken away\u2026.\u201d  Which means the young driver and passengers would have to figure<\/div>\n
how to get back to Christchurch on their own.  No joke.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cDad, I can drive this stretch of highway.  No traffic whatever\u2026.except occasional flocks of sheep.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
So we switched divers.   Sure enough all went wrong. <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cPolice car coming towards us\u2026.lights flashing\u2026.pointing to road shoulder.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cQuick Andrew, we\u2019ll change drivers\u2026.it will take the cop a while to turn around\u2026time <\/div>\n
enough for me to get in the drivers’ seat.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The switch was messy. It looked like we had an octopus in the front seats as we tried the switch\u2026entangle ourselves.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cDamn\u2026damn,,,The cop is right  behind us.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMust be a sport driver\u2026can wheel around while moving.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHe saw us doing the change.  He  knows.   We are in big time trouble.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWould you mind getting out of your car?   Just what were you trying to do\u2026change drivers?\u201d<\/div>\n
How old are you son?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSeventeen.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAre you aware of the driving violation?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYes sir\u2026sorry\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAnd you, sir,  you are the father.   Just what do you do for a living?\u201d<\/div>\n
(An odd question)<\/div>\n
\u201cI am a teacher.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cA teacher?  Really?  And just what do you teach young people?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201chistory\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWell aren\u2019t you a great example for young people.  Dangerous driving.  Ignoring the law.  Trying to<\/div>\n
fool a police officer\u2026.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cSorry about \u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAre you aware of the penalty?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYes sir\u2026Sorry about\u2026.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
At this point the officer chewed me out.  Nicely though.  He kept bringing up the fact that I was<\/div>\n
expected to be an example for young people.  Not a law braver.   He seemed to be enjoying himself.<\/div>\n
He was telling me off so much that I knew he had no intention of going me a ticket and taking the<\/div>\n
car away from us.   Just too much talk for that.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cSir, I will let you off.   Perhaps next time you will become a better example for your own son.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
And he drove away.  Did Marjorie and Andrew think less of me while I was being raked over<\/div>\n
the coals by the officer?   No they were as relieved as I was that the officer has a sense of humour.,<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cAlan, don\u2019\u2019t you  dare try to take a picture of the officer.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNeed it for the story\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cForget about your stories\u201d<\/div>\n
(So there is no proof that this happened except for Andrew\u2019s feet<\/div>\n
on the dashboard of the car.)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan  (see below)<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOTE:  POSSIBLY SOME READERS ARE CONSIDERING A HOLIDAY IN NEW ZEALAND,,,THIS STORY MAY  HELP YOU DECIDE. EPISODE 743  NEW ZEALAND,,, ANDREW AND ALAN MEET A  REAL KIWI\u2026BUNGY JUMP…DISCIPLINED BY POLICE alan skeoch feb. 16, 2023 New Zealand surprises:  This month our 17 year old grand daughter is touring New Zealand.  Back packing and Bus Touring  […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}