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It’s people (and great scenery) that make a rural delivery run enjoyable, says outgoing Pukekawa postie Janet Foley.
She was the RD1 Tuakau driver for nine years and four months before handing over the run to Brendan and Sherry Trembath on June 1.
But it’s not a complete farewell, with Janet as a relief driver when needed.
“I said I would help out when I could.”
Her run covered the Tuakau Bridge, out to Chapman Road, down to Churchill Road, but up to the Onewhero Golf Club, around Pukekawa Hill, and finished at Mercer.
“I enjoyed driving, but it’s really the people that made the job special. Because I live in the area, I already knew a lot of the people I was delivering mail to. You would stop and have chats, some would just be a hello, but others you end up spending 20 to 30 minutes talking to.”
Before taking on the RD run, Janet was working at Auckland Airport for Aviation Security Services (AvSec).
“I would probably still be with AvSec if we didn’t have to do the night shift. We would have to do six nights straight.”
It was a matter of good timing that Janet became a rural delivery driver.
“The mailman turned up at our place one day to deliver a parcel, and he said he was selling the mail run. I thought about it, thought about it more, and stopped him one day to tell him I was interested. The owners were Clem and Adrian Tilyard who used to own the PostShop in Tuakau.
“I normally get up around 4am, and at the depot by 5am. Sometimes it’s earlier if you know you’re going to have a lot to do. Each day is different.”
The scenery is stunning and often changes, she said.
“You couldn’t ask for a better office. Sometimes there’s a farmer moving cows on Chapman Road, and I used to come up behind in the van and slowly move them up the road. How brilliant is that?”
Janet still lives in Pukekawa with her husband on a 56-hectare farm, having built a house there in 1990.
“I just love living here … you come over the bridge at Mercer and you feel that stress of being in the city just drop away. The countryside is beautiful. Doing the mail run for the past nine years, I’ve really enjoyed it.”
