Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Honours

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  • giovanni tiso,

    Even living in South Auckland it was entirely normal for kids to disappear all day, with no fixed destination, right through the end of the 80s.

    When Google Earth came out I looked at my grandmother's village and surrounding areas and at the route I used to travel on my bycicle every other day when holidaying there since a very tender age. That came as a bit of a shock, I went for MILES. (And it involved passing a notoriously dodgey railway crossing.)

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Just thinking,

    I take it you've all seen this -

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3215463/Brothel-keepers-jailed-for-rape

    Karlas parents doing time for the rape and recriutment of her friend.

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    Even living in South Auckland it was entirely normal for kids to disappear all day, with no fixed destination, right through the end of the 80s.

    As kids in the early '90s we used to regularly go roaming off unsupervised around the parks and beaches in Point Chev, although it was a famously sleepy suburb then (a little less so now).

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Swimming at Piha with my kids is probably riskier than anything mentioned here

    Driving to Piha is probably riskier

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Just thinking,

    The adjustment we've made to modern times is that the kids call when leaving and arriving at their mates homes or say where they're gonna be.

    The result has been when one of the boys breaks a bone, as they do, we can pick them up and take them to hospital without too much drama.

    So a precaution with one thing in mind has paid off in another, less menacing way.

    Putaringamotu • Since Apr 2009 • 1158 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    Driving to Piha is probably riskier

    The dangers of phone posts. Nothing to see here. Move along.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    Driving to Piha is probably riskier

    Those Auckland tourists. Why don't they stick to Orewa?

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic,

    I take it you've all seen this -

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/3215463/Brothel-keepers-jailed-for-rape

    Karlas parents doing time for the rape and recriutment of her friend.

    And Karla's stepfather was in the news for the wrong reasons to boot. For something worse than threats of vigilantism.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    As feared, giving Myers an honour encourages him to think that his vapid witterings from afar are valued again.

    Dig up our national parks for minerals to sell to Asia, he enthuses. That'll fix things. Good description of his lifestyle at the end too.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Heh. Into the mines of Mordor, with Dougie playing a certain lead role..

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    Oh, oh and Helen Clark as... No sorry can't think of anyone ;-)

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    No doubt that has flavoured my paranoia. In the end it comes down to what feels instinctively ok, and what doesn't.

    I grew up all over the country / world and at 11 was cycling through Upper Hutt, 5 km each way, along the Hutt Rd to school without a moments thought.

    When I was 12/13 I was cycling and exploring all over the Manawatu and Rangitikei daily, long before being able to phone in, as kids are now. It wasn't unusual.

    We moved back to Auckland when I was 14, in 1971, and I was warned by half the non-Jaffa North Island to be wary of something called Ponsonby . I remember driving through that first night utterly terrified that we'd be pulled aside and assaulted by the gangs and hoodlums I'd been told haunted the area.

    It took me weeks to get over that.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    be wary of something called Ponsonby

    Could have been the wildlife. More likely to be forced to drink a trim decaffe latte these days.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    Could have been the wildlife

    As I recall the national press had stories about bikie wars in Pons, around that time. I expected a bunch of Nortons or BSAs to push us off the road into some dark car park and, uh, maraud us or something.

    Of course later I found out that Mt Eden was the really dark 'burb..

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • recordari,

    There were regular gang fights in our little hamlet, but that was adult stuff. We were too busy catching, and dispatching, possums, riding bmx bikes next to 50 foot drops or going bush from dawn 'til dusk. A few stitches, but nothing to write home about. Just took the kids back there for a summer holiday. They went bush, boogie boarding and had 'the best time ever', according to them. We had a different kind of fun. ;-). 'Perception' seems the key word here.

    Not sure which thread to put this on. Love, Honours or Holiday Musings? Anyway, here it is.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

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