Aboard Driving Creek Railway

Who loves a ride on a little train through the NZ bush? I do!

Started by Barry Brickell in 1973 Driving Creek railway in Coromandel Town grew to 3 km of narrow gauge railway track over 22ha of hilly scrubby land. Barry was also NZs first NZ-born fulltime potter. Driving Creek Railway opened to the public in 1990.

This railway has quite an inspring and impressive history. The land had to be surveyed to create a route through very rough country. What can be seen today was done by hand by Barry with local contactors called in to assist with major earthworks.. There are bridges and viaducts, tunnels and spirals plus five reversing points required to reach the elevation at Eyeful Tower. Switchbacks added to the original tracks meant that trains could 'turn around' for public tours and an income stream could be added to that of the pottery.

This tourist attraction shows just what one person with vision and determination can do. Barry started with the creation of his pottery. A wood-fired stoneware kiln was built. Clay used for potting was and is sourced from this property. He then started the railway, while at the same time putting in incredible efforts to restore the land to native bush. He has certainly succeeded with that. It's a wonderful fresh experience being in the little train as you wind through giant native trees and so many tree ferns. All planted by Barry. The environment has responded to Barry's care by completely regenerating for visitors' delight. I am grateful to see that with the right care, nature can come back within 30 years. Brickell said: "I wanted to demonstrate that you can have engineering in a rugged landscape and it could be good. Engineering doesn't have to be ugly."

The significant forest restoration includes a native wildlife sanctuary and a predator-proof fence. Possum trapping is on-going. I let out a cheer as we rattled past a possum hanging by its neck from a steel bar on a tree. Ecosystem 1, Aussie terrorist 0.

 Trees easily identifiable include Kauri, Rimu, Rewarewa, thousands of tree ferns including our NZ Silver Fern, all planted since 1973.

Potters visit from all over the world as studios and accommodation are available. While I was there a potting class was in progress. I watched in amazement as the most awesone teacher explained what and why he wanted them to do certain things. Concentrating on the 'feel' of what was happening inside their hands, the two students succeeded in turning the clay without unfortunate incidents. He was really awesome and I told him and his class so. You can see them in action. Barry Brickell was good at building kilns. There are several on site, many of them working.

Another feature of note during the train trip is the bottle retainer walls on the hilly sides. They look rather smart in the rain with the glass glistening. There are thousands used for these walls and the precision of placement is remarkable. Our driver told us that barry had put an ad out offering a free train ride to anyone with at least two dozen clean wine bottles to donate. This worked a treat and even today the train drivers are adding to the bottle walls with great pride. In fact, all along the train track passengers can see all sorts of whimsical pottery tucked in amongst ferns and streams. Tunnels are decorated with ceramics too. Each turn seems to have something fun to see, for the sharp-eyed.

Barry died in 2016 leaving the railway and its bush protected by a QE2 covenant. An additional activity onsite is a zipline canopy tour. it goes very fast and I think it's maybe too fast for tourists to get the feel of the bush while whizzing past it.

There's some really great further information here.. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/294797/artist-barry-brickell-dies-aged-80

Driving Creek is now a fully charitable organisation and continues to deliver on Barry’s vision, as detailed in theTrust Charter. Driving Creek operates two charitable purpose programmes that stem from goals to:

• Protect and enhance our natural environment, be a leader and centre for understanding and contribution to conservation initiatives, and share our conservation values with our community and visitors.
• Be a leading centre for pottery and ceramic crafts where emerging potters are actively fostered and visitors share in a unique craft and creative experience.

Kaikoura's Classic Car Museum

I recently stumbled upon a little treasure in Kaikoura. Feeling in need of a quick bite we pulled up to Bernie's Diner. So much fun (the way Burger King was once in the long ago past), Every thing was American retro 60s at 105 Beach Rd. 

Ah, those milkshake containers, the little collection of mustard, tomato sauce and salt on each table. Spotless presentation and the service was faster than MacDonalds Matamata. I'd done my research and knew there was another even better reason to be here: Harmon's Classic Car Museum. It was created in 2017 by father and son Geoff and Bernard Harmon with their passion for cars. It remains a private collection.

I was delighted at the range and quality of models from the USA. The British cars were simply functional and boring though that's all that many of us Kiwis would have had experience of in our youth. The American cars were plastered with chrome, terrific upholstery, glam and certainly plenty of space. You'd never fit a parking space these days with those cars. 

Such big boots with luggage space, full size spare tyres you can easily get to, bench seats - younger generations will never know how exciting those could be. It was great to see under the hood of some of the models and be able to recognise various components. In my younger days I could change a tyre, change fuses and spark plugs, fill the radiator and window washer reservoir. Things look simpler now but in reality are much more complicated these days with everything dependent on electronics. 

Inside an annex were some interesting displays of unrestored cars, a classic caravan used back in the 60s and 70s, a huge stationwagon for beach holidays complemented with a diorama, a boat and even old petrol pumps. I still remember my father filling up the car with Caltex boron. Nothing lead-free back then. My parents started out with an old Singer and then progressed to Mum having a Humber and Dad a Mark 4 Zephyr. Alas the Zephyr rolled with a caravan during high winds on a hilly road while my parents were on holiday and was badly damaged. My father, who was driving, was quite battered too but cars were pretty solid in those days. He drove it home with a stoved in roof and the windscreen held to the car by ropes. 

 American cars were hard to come by so NZ was pretty much British automobiles until Japanese imports made their presence felt and greater reliability was a blessing, along with the reduced price tag.

There were additional items included in the museum: old petrol-powered bikes from the 20s, a Vespa scooter, a beautiful terracotta-coloured bike with sidecar and old traffic cop bikes. These were before the traffic division was assimilated by the police. Honda was the preferred brand and I remember them well though I never had any 'personal' dealings with them.

In a side wing could be found a Trash Fashion display of some of the winning entries since 2001. Trash Fashion is Kaikoura's premier entertainment event. The outfits are all from recycled trash which might be toilet paper or aluminium can rings, fabric or plastic twisties for bread, to name a few elements.

The museum includes a scaled replica of the West End of the main street of Kaikoura as it was at least 70 years ago. Included are some of the important buildings that are now gone.

Once back in the diner you can buy car-centric merchandise.

I had a lot of fun here remembering my own past with cars and motorbikes, family jaunts and asociated other memories..

It's open 7 days a week for breakfast and lunch, doughnuts and milkshakes, burgers and coffee.   www.harmons.co.nz

Medicine drives me nuclear

Medecines are developed to treat medical problems but they can have some pretty nasty side effects. We know this but often doctors simply do what they are used to prescribing and give little thought to consequences, or hope for the best further down the line. If we are in an acute situation, such as open heart surgery, we don't know what later effects medicines may have as doctors don't tell us.

Six weeks after two open heart surgeries I was back in the hospital because the mountain of medicines I was expected to take was wrecking my gastrointestinal system. Doctors ummed and ahhed as to what might be causing my pain symptoms and nausea but it was me, the patient, who ended up nudging their considerations into medicine issues. I was proven right after 2/3 of my meds were discontinued or dosages reduced and I finally started to get better. 

I thought I was past the worst and that from now on I would only improve but five months after surgery I felt I was sliding backward with massive palpitations, fatigue, two instances of nearly losing conciousness while doing moderate exercise. I found myself spending more time on the sofa and had to give up my exercise classes at the sports centre and the aquatic centre. By the time I was seven months post-op I knew I had better alert my GP. Blood tests were done

They came back abnormal for thyroid function and very low vitamin D (which was surprising for a gardener like myself), In future I will cover up a bit less when outside. It's a fine line for we spritely elders getting enough UV for Vitamin D production and too much UV leading to skin cancer. I was now hyperthyroid with the associated heart symptoms.

Further tests ruled out Graves disease which is autoimmune. Specialists revealed my thyroid troubles had been caused by Amiodorone, a powerful antiarhythmia drug which can cause damage long after it is discontinued as its mega-iodine effect stays in the human body for up to a year, causing havoc in some of us. Key consequences can be a stuffed up thyoid, heart damage, osteoporosis and even pulmonary fibrosis, a terminal lung condition whereby you die within weeks, months but certainly within three years. There is a class action law suit forming in the US against this drug due to the nasty side effects.

I may have dodged a bullet as that second hospital stay saw Amiodorone discontinued though clearly the effects are with me. At least I have minimised the length of time I was on it. It's very worrying for patients when something like this comes out of the blue, the fault of a drug prescribed by doctors.

I am now on another medicine to help my thyroid normalise but we have to be careful in case it tips my thyroid into becoming hypo  and thus requiring lifelong medication. Sheesh! My thyroid needed further investigation and since there is a 4 month waiting list for the thyroid clinic I was pleased they were taking things seriously. So I agreed to go radioactive as part of a diagnostic scan using molecular medicine. Christchurch Hospital receives a canister of the preferred radioactive isotope once a week and it is preprepared into the correct testing doses.

Nuclear medicine uses radioactive material inside the body to see how organs or tissue are functioning (for diagnosis) or to target and destroy damaged or diseased organs or tissue (for treatment).

Unlike x-rays, CT and MRI scans that give structural information, Nuclear Medicine imaging demonstrates the function of an organ or organ system by monitoring the passage, accumulation or excretion of a radiopharmaceutical (a radioactive pharmaceutical).

To perform a Nuclear Medicine scan, the radiopharmaceutical is first administered to the patient, usually intravenously. Depen​​ding on the type of scan, the pictures may be taken immediately and/or after a period of time during which the pharmaceutical localises in the target organ or system.

Thyroid scanning is a well established test for evaluating many thyroid diseases.  The thyroid scan aids in the evaluation of hyperthyroidism by demonstrating findings that differentiate Graves' disease, toxic adenoma, toxic multinodular goitre and thyroiditis. 

• Following an IV injection of ^99mTc-Pertechnetate, there is a waiting time of approx. 30 minutes, Apart from the needle, it doesn't hurt. This radioactive product will concentrate in the thyroid gland. Pertechnetate is excreted in breast milk, so breastfeeding women are advised to express and discard breast milk for 26 hours after injection.

• The scan takes approx. 10 minutes to complete. I had a 2 minute one, followed by a 4 minute one. I was not allowed to swallow during the scan.

  After a few hours, certainly after a day, I am no longer radioactive. The scan confirms I have drug-induced thyroiditis. With careful medicine correction I hope to eventually get back to normal.

  Don't take those regular blood test checkups lightly. They can reveal problems that can't always be seen. Stay vigilant and be your own advocate.
  

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yfdXzZ6Uu0 Hyperthyroidism vs hypothyroidism in detail

  
  
  
  

 

 

Quilting makes feelings tangible and dreams reality

In an old nineteenth century schoolhouse at Fernside, Canterbury is a woman and her quilting studio providing consolation, celebration and inspiration for fellow New Zealanders and overseas clients. Patchworks, quilts, bags and special commissions all jostle for Verina Thirlwell’s passionate attention. The rhythmic clonk and whirr of the Bernina sewing machine is stitching together thoughts, feelings and hopes in a way that heals, excites and creates community.

She listens to others people’s hurt and needs and allows her creativity to guide her in creating unique stitched items that give joy. It’s a magical place.

Patchwork and quilting are increasingly popular in New Zealand but few quilters achieve the results Verina does.

Patchwork is a work, such as a blanket, composed of many different colours and shapes, sewn together to make an interesting whole.

Quilting is patterned stitching creating bed coverings, art wall hangings, clothing, and a variety of textile products. It can be done by hand, via a sewing machine, or by a specialized long-arm quilting system.

The process

Fabric, or patchworks, brought to Verina’s quilting studio is laid out on the work bench and there follows a discussion on quilting styles, patterns and variables. The client usually chooses the backing they want. Verina then sketches up a design and provides a timeframe. Most clients leave the creative process to her and are then presented with the finished work of art.

Layers are built up while seeking balance in the composition. Where memory quilts are concerned, rather than bed quilts, she adds trims or decorative stitches. She adds depth and texture to the work by adding in hand embroidery or hand quilting. This can emphasise a special piece that has major importance as the eye is drawn to the detail.

What she enjoys the most is being given free rein on the style of quilting but it is the joy on a client’s face that is the most satisfying aspect for Verina.

“That’s exactly what I wanted. You’ve done the impossible- turned a sow’s ear into a silk purse,” enthused a happy client.

Another said “I wanted a stitchery. Verina’s talent adds value to my work. She’s consistent, reliable and she makes sure her quilting never takes over my stitchery.”

Sometimes she receives special commissions where she has to create the patchwork and then quilt it. Her service might extend to going shopping with clients to find suitable materials that they like but 95% of the time clients bring in their own patchworks to be quilted.

Clients come mostly from Canterbury, but also further afield from Marlborough/Nelson, the North Island and even Indonesia.

Making memorial cushions

These very special, unique designs are constructed from elements supplied by customers, which are sentimental and hold great meaning, often being representative of loved ones who have died.

Firstly, Verina lays out the fabrics, trims, buttons, beads and any other materials to cover a foundation fabric. She usually collects the materials first before thinking of the design. If the cushion is a collaboration between her and the client, they discuss the collection of elements and their significance and importance they have. She then sketches a design and provides a timeframe. Verina employs her creative processes and later presents them as the finished work.

Quite a number of clients appreciate the tactile connection they gain through hugging memorial cushions. The fabrics used all have special meaning; designs can recall past happy times, and personal embellishments such as beads and jewellery bring memories of the departed back into everyday life.

Men enjoy receiving a personalised cushion for birthdays or retirements, or perhaps recognising a special achievement.

A haven of tranquillity

The studio has been described as a refuge and retreat for those who have had trauma in their lives. A calm atmosphere pervades there that has nothing to do with Verina. No doubt it’s the rural setting, the sense of history and continuation which seeps from the walls of the old Springbank schoolhouse.

There’s even a pair of chairs and an art deco daybed near the gas fire, intended as an area to sit and host clients but often the space is filled with works in progress or completed items awaiting collection.

Confidentiality is important and clients know that they can be open and free to say what they want, without judgement. Verina’s empathy encourages clients to open up about what matters to them in each commission, large or small. Sometimes grief takes time to evolve to a point where clients feel ready to have clothing from the departed made into a quilt. The finished quilt can turn grief into joy and celebration of a life well-lived and person well-loved.

The studio is also the venue for quilting classes. Twice weekly 6-8 students learn the art of quilting. The trusty Bernina sewing machine is always ready to go and there’s plenty of space on the large cutting table. Some students consider their lessons life-savers. The meetings give members something to look forward to, therapy and good company.

The schoolhouse was also the venue for a group of volunteers who, led by Verina, gave of their time and money to produce a great many charity patchwork quilts to give to the families of the Mosque attack victims in Christchurch 2019. Waltham School distributed them.

The quilting studio is the main focus of the business but Verina also enjoys the more creative side of using old clothes, doilies, laces and trims to make something beautiful; be it a cushion, sewing case, or to decorate an item of clothing. The latter work is fiddly and will probably never supersede the quilting but she’ll take on almost anything.

Creative challenges

Recently she accepted a new challenge: working on a large tapestry from France. It had been unmounted, dry-cleaned and posted to NZ, which had pulled it out of shape. It needed to be turned into a wall hanging in a French-styled house in Canterbury. Verina went so far as to pin it to the carpet in her dining room, blocked out as squarely as possible, while it dried back into shape. It was then lined and made ready to take pride of place in the client’s home, reminding her of her love of France and French history.

This talented seamstress created a teddy bear for a young girl, from the girl’s departed grandmother’s dressing gown. She added photographs on fabric of the girl and her grandma to the paw pads for a special touch. The finished result impressed the girl’s parents and moved the little girl emotionally as now she can cuddle and talk to the bear in a spiritual connection with her Grandma.

Verina once made a teddy bear for a wedding that was made from scraps of the wedding dress she had made for a client. Beaded and embroidered, he sat on the back shelf of the bridal car and then on the cake table.

Quilts can be very happy celebrations too

The birth of a new baby, or a birthday or wedding anniversary can be the inspiration for a new quilt.

Quilts are also made to be read, to inspire and to express feelings: handwritten comments can be added to the fabric. Bags are quilted and beaded for weddings or special anniversaries. Verina even created a unique quilt for herself to celebrate her own 50^th birthday. She requested family and friends to send her a patchwork block or piece of fabric rather than a card or present. The resulting memories sewn into the quilt remind her how blessed she is to have such lovely people in her life. The range of fabrics, blocks and feelings were as varied as her friends and continue to give her great delight.

Perhaps we should all have a memories box where we can put special objects away, and when we have enough, send them off to be turned into wonderful remembrances as quilts, bags, table linen and clothing. It puts a new turn on reuse or recycle but these beautiful objects can become family or personal heirlooms and give joy for decades to come.

Verina’s journey

Verina made her first patchwork when she was just 12 years old. Maybe it was encouragement from her granny who was a tailoress. She started with English paper piercing which consists of hexagonal paper templates and is very traditional. Nowadays almost anything goes.

Her work evolved into patchwork shapes to make a ‘block’. Blocks are repeating patterns, like tiles. What she once did with hand stitching is now done by machine.

Verina trained as an early Childhood Educator and spent 35 years mostly helping special needs children. She was quilting part time but eventually she left teaching and its mountain of paperwork to spend more time exploring her creative talents. She invested in an old quilting machine and has never looked back.

https://www.facebook.com/Just4youquilting/

 

Photographs courtesy of Frances Harrison and Verina Thirlwell

Templeton Daffodils, Christchurch

 How to appreciate these heralds of Spring? Visit a daffodil farm. I'm a member of the Rolleston Garden Club and our outing this month was to pop out to Templeton Daffodils for a feast for the eyes and some tips on growing these bulbs. 

David and Leitha Adams own and manage the farm. 

They have been producing lists of daffodils for thirty years. It's mostly now a devoted hobby producing and selling as many bulbs as they can reasonably manage. They also enter daffodil shows, such as the big one at Woodend, exhibiting their best blooms that the earwigs haven't spoiled. On occasions the farm is visited by high-profile persons who have heard about their blooms and bulbs. Even The Netherlands appreciates the new shapes and colours the Adams have produced over the years.

Breeding bulbs is a long-term project. The flowers are not cut to supply florists. Instead they are left to sow seed and the seedlings are left for 5 years to produce their first flower. After that it's a matter of selection as to which plants will continue

to do their own thing or be used for selective breeding. Once plants can flower with predicable results their bulbs can be offered for sale. Every seedling that results from random pollination is unique - some are more desirable than others. The flower beds have increased over the years but David informed us that from seed - selection-checking results can take 15 years for one new cultivar.

Types of daffodils and related bulbs include: Trumpets, large cups, small cups, doubles, Jonquils, Tazettas, Split Coronas, Poeticus and Bulbocodium hybrids.

David and Leitha have provided some interesting names for their cultivars : Cream Scone, Simply Purring, White Imp, for example.

Customers need to order before 30 January 2023.Brian starts sending out bulb orders in March and finishes end of April. International orders include a Phytosanitary Certificate.

David gave us some important planting advice: If you live in Canterbury you need to plant your daffodils extra deep. The Nor-Westers are not kind to these tall-blooming flowers, exposing the bulb to insect invasion and also stressing the plant so it may not send up many flower stalks. Even when you so everything right, earwigs can wreak havoc by chewing the edges of the flower petals.

We were generously allowed to pick a bunch of daffodils for free, each, from the field where the Adams had already dug out the best bulbs for production and selling. How awesome to wander down the beautiful rows of flowers and choose what we liked best.My bunch has pride of place on my dining table.

 If you would like more information on growing daffodils and their related cousins check out the following websites...

https://daffodilusa.org/growing-daffodils/bulb-sources-ordering-tips/specialty-growers/ 

https://daffodil.org.nz/special-categories/

 https://daffseek.org/  for an international database with photos

Endless Service deficit by Telco

 aka Highway to Hell. We are all dependent on continuous telecommunications service these days. Partly this is our hunger for more efficient ways to communicate and entertain ourselves, and partly it is driven by the 'powers-that-be' in terms of their technology and business agendas and strategies. I feel like a pawn in a sick chess game.

I experienced a loss of all telecoms service; that's phone and internet, earlier this month. Apparently my streaming use had used up my generous data allowance but that didn't explain why my separate phone plan was affected. To suddenly find you can't lead a normal life with a basic service we are all 'required to have and need' hits home immediately. I thought I had better top up. This is impossible if you have no phone service. I was obliged to go to a neighbour and ask for help with contacting the dreadful Vodafone customer care staff hiding behind a ghastly voice recognition/AI mindless voice that understands nothing and sends you on a continuous loop of menu options. Eventually I managed to top up my account to receive some phone and internet.

I'd had enough and figured I'd better avoid running out by changing my plan to a more expensive endless phone calls and internet data plan. Oh dear! I dared to change something and I went from pillar to post. My frustration with their call centre system prompted me to send an email to the CEO of Vodafone NZ, Jason Paris. You can't email customer services. That option no longer exists.

11 August 2022

Dear Jason

I am in the process of converting from wireless broadband to fibre. My home is modern and there is some fibre in the street and the outside of my house. I placed the order 04 August and have still not received the modem to complete the installation. My current wireless broadband modem is not compatible with fibre.

 

Over the past few days I have been shuttled between Philippines and India with the usual accompanying difficulties of communication and looking things up at their end. I have been informed by India that I cannot have a modem until Enable say the connection is completed.

The Enable guys say the opposite, that they cannot complete without the modem (logical). What is going on? After spending hours on multiple days trying to find the right person overseas who can action something the best I can expect is a modem to arrive in 72 hours. Who knows how to set it up? Not sure I do and if it doesn't work what do I do then?

There are three issues here that need your attention:

1. The nightmare of an automated phone menu that can't behave intuitively. Sure, you don't have to pay staff but the service is awful to deal with. I just go round and round with the voice telling me it doesn't understand and giving me a menu which doesn't match my enquiry. I have very good diction.
   

2. Something is wrong with your installation process. The modem should arrive BEFORE Enable plugs it in. I have a garage full of Enable guys who can't finish their job
   

3. You said publicly more than a year ago that you were bringing back the customer care call centres within a year. I say bullshit. I only get to talk to the Philippines or India. What is your personal assurance worth?
   

As an ex Communications and PR specialist I would say this whole Vodafone customer experience is sub-standard and you are losing credibility when you fail to deliver on your public promises, which were key issues in 2021.

Quoting your good self... Feb 26 2021."

He says the Vodafone Business call centre has “100 per cent been brought back to New Zealand”, acknowledging that while the company has “great people overseas” the accent barrier has proved “really difficult”, often leading to miscommunication.

The same is true for the consumer call centre, which he says by the end of 2021 will also largely be based in New Zealand." https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/02/25/our-service-hasnt-been-good-enough-vodafone-boss-touts-big-changes-call-centres-coming-back-to-nz/

I call bullshit on all those meangless promises. They never delivered for domestic customers.

Thirty minutes after sending him the email, a nice underling who handles complaints called me and said he would help sort things out. He checked my top-up had gone through and said the modem had been ordered back on the 4th but that the order had stopped for some reason so he would reactivate that so my modem should arrive in 72 hours. It did. I called Enable and got the guys back a couple of days later to complete the installation. They couldn't shut the cabinet door as the electric plugs are too bulky to fit the connection inside. I would have to get a small trianglular double adapter, unplug and re-plug in the fibre box.

I discovered my internet was still constantly dropping out to the point where streaming and using YouTube for my music practice became impossible. I checked the internet speed. It was very slow. I went through the horror of the Vodafone customer call centres off-shore to eventually be told the fibre had not been activated their end. This is despite me previously calling them the day of completed installation to update their system and cancel my wireless broadband as I would now be on the fibre contract. They assured me I now had fibre service. no aplogies and no compensation for days of not having the service I was now paying for.

The speeds still seemed slow, in fact worse. I also received a text message telling me I had reached my credit limit and could no longer have phone or internet until I gave them my credit card details. I thought it was just an admin error but no... there's more. The next day I had no phone, nor internet, again, yet I was on an endless monthly plan. 

I tried to have a bot chat with Vodafone just before my telecoms service cut out but they told me to disconnect modem and cable and fibre and WAN cable and power to reset things. When I reconnected the fibre box it would not light up again.

I jumped in my car to seek help from a friend with a mobile. He wasn't home so I had to drive home and hope the neighbours were now awake and able to use their phone to call Vodafone OMG call centre. Within 20 minutes of waiting there was steam coming from his ears as he tried to get a PERSON to answer and help. More waiting and then a woman with an Asian accent no doubt in Mumbai said she could not proceed unless he would verify his account. But he does not have a Vodafone account. He had already given them my account details. She insisted. My neighbour replied it had nothing to do with his non-Vodafone account. We could get nowhere, she couldn't understand us and put us on hold. We hung up and with my neighbour's phone I contacted the complaints guy in Auckland via his smartphone. He rang me back to say my disconnection was all due to a system they had years back where new customers were limited in the credit they could rark up. I said I had never asked for that, in fact knew nothing about it and it should never have been applied to me as I was on an endless monthly contract. He spent ages tapping on his computer and after getting my password was able to disactivate this antiquated admin. He also said he would lodge a work order for Enable to come out but that I too should call Enable about it, just to make sure. He did not apologise. No responsibility was acknowledged. No compensation was offered.

An hour and a half after I spoke to Enable's customer service with yet another 'accent' though she assured me she was based in Christchurch, The Guys from Enable arrived at my door. Their third visit to me, we get on well now.

Ron and Frank were great. They responded promptly and checked and corrected every element that could be giving me fibre problems including internet speed via modem direct and wifi on my laptop, also power plug configuration in the Telecoms cabinet in my garage. They discovered a switch impossibly hidden behind plugs had been knocked to the off position when I reconnected power to the fibre box. They checked my TV was set up correctly for me since moving to fibre. Some of this may not be strictly in their job description but it is necessary to rule out interferences to fibre connections. However, not so impressed with the woman from Enable customer service who said I should never have switched off my fibre box, despite Vodafone telling me to do that for a reset and also being previously told to do that by Ron and Frank in order to change the plug configuration for electricity.  

I eventually got there but the interface between Vodafone and Enable is not so great (mostly the fault of Vodafone). I shudder to think of my fate if I had not had the cellphone number of that guy from Vodafone HQ as a result of my email to the CEO. They just don't care. I have explained that no amount of new sales staff they are currently recruiting is going to stop them losing customers from all this shit. They have no credibility. Their CEO tells 'pork pies' to the media when Vodafone are getting flak through poor service. I had better stick with them for now but I desperately want to be the customer of a telco that is responsive, easy to deal with, cares about customer care and can liaise with Enable with intelligent English-as-a-first-language speakers based in NZ. PLEASE. This has dragged on with hours of stress for three weeks now.

I am also dubious about their statement that I had orginally used up all my phone data as here is a graphic showing my useage up to last month on my old Lite plan. Who knows what to think. My phone useage behaviours have not changed.