GUNDRY'S GRUMBLES with Simon Gundry

Parking and the North Shore Welcome

Simon Gundry is a Devonport and North Shore identity, and character, who is known for calling a spade a spade. He is a director of contracting company Gill & Gundry, is an enthusiastic and active sailor (past crew-member of Ceramco New Zealand and Lion New Zealand in Whitbread Round The World races and Shockwave in Admiral’s Cup) and is a life member of the North Shore Rugby Football Club. This is his regular and lively contribution to CHANNEL.

It’s hard to believe one third of the year has already passed us and the Rugby World Cup is about to engulf us like a giant wave. I am so looking forward to the thousands of people arriving to enjoy our country. I spent a month in France when the last Rugby World Cup was on, with two very close friends. We flew into Nice on a beautifully warm Mediterranean afternoon, with no plans at all except for the picking up of a European hire car which was to be our mode of transport for the next few weeks. We drove up the beautiful piece of coastline away from Nice to Monaco where we spent the first couple of nights on a yacht in Monaco Harbour, living life like the rich and famous.

From there, we drove and followed our instincts, staying in little towns in 2 star hotels usually in the centre of town. We ate locally and drank locally, stayed if we wished to stay, and we enjoyed the camaraderie and scenery or moved on if we wished to enjoy another town – well away from the maddening crowds of World Cup supporters.

Come game day, we hunted the best little bar with the biggest TV and watched any game we wanted to, live. We were probably the only bunch of rugby supporters that journeyed across the world to watch the Rugby World Cup and never saw a live game. We had planned to come back after the All Blacks had won the quarter final against France and watch the semi finals and finals at home with our families. Then of course we know what happened. We watched that particular game in a small sports bar in a tiny town in the middle of France. After the French victory I couldn’t believe how the town went wild. Prior to the match I had had a long walk through the town and discovered an American war cemetery with the young soldiers who were killed after the push North, a couple of months after D Day. There were several thousand white crosses above the graves of young Americans. The whole graveyard was immaculate, not a blade of grass out of place. A very poignant hour was spent prior to this game. The following morning the three of us were devastated by the early exit of the All Blacks. I woke my two friends early and took them on a walk through the town and back to the American cemetery. It made us feel a lot better, it was only a game after all, and not a life or death situation as had faced these young men from all over America, all those years ago.

We are so lucky to be living in such a beautiful part of the world, when so much of the world is in strife. The autumn on the North Shore has just been wonderful, the best time of the year. Early morning sunrises over the Hauraki Gulf, crisp mornings and warming to wonderful afternoons, still enough warmth and light to barbecue and spend time with family. One thing I got really annoyed with recently when walking down to Devonport on a recent Monday morning, was the proliferation of parking wardens. I noticed two of them walking round together, marking tyres and chatting. There were hardly any people in the village at that time and they had already started marking tyres. During my walk round town I encountered no fewer than 3 different parking wardens, all with Auckland Council grey cars, plying their trade throughout the village.

Talking about this has reminded me of the number of signs that are constantly appearing on virtually every lamp post in downtown Devonport, and the surrounding waterfront area. A couple of classics are the “Tsunami Meeting Areas” signs at Cheltenham Beach – wouldn’t this be the last place you’d want to meet up? Wouldn’t it be better to take off to the heights of North Head or Mt Victoria? Or is this too sensible?

Since the price of petrol has risen, a lot of people are driving to Devonport, parking on the waterfront and catching the ferry to town, a pleasant way to travel. My great fear is that the Council will start installing the Park and Pay meters along the waterfront of King Edward Parade. People of Devonport must be very vigilant to ensure this doesn’t happen by stealth, with the greedy Council seeking to extract every cent they can.

Now that the road between Esmonde Road and Hauraki Corner is nearly finished, I cannot believe they did not include a median strip through the middle of it, and plant it as they have in North Glenfield Road, just past the shopping centre. This is how they do it in Singapore, median strips barely a metre wide planted with beautiful trees to break up the black tarseal which resembles an interstate freeway. It would be so simple to do, and would enhance that piece of road so well. Mind you if you look at the median strip in Esmonde Road on the way to the Harbour Bridge, all the plants are dead or dying and it’s full of cigarette butts and rubbish. Surely to God there was a maintenance plan put in place for this area, as it is the front door to our place, welcoming all the guests to the Rugby World Cup games. Why can’t some of these so-called unemployed people be out there, cleaning up, giving them some purpose to their lives and a pride in the country they live in.

Anyway that’s it for now, I pulled out my old boots and jacket the other day, in anticipation of another winter standing on the sideline watching the kids play rugby. See you next month!