Busy week full of inspiration
April 2nd, 2008, 11:15 pm Hobbies News
However, I do consider that this week would have to emerge from the rich tapestry of my life as one of the most dramatic, sensational and proud weeks of my life.
It started with huge 40-year anniversary stories of the tragedy of the Wahine that were published in both the Dominion Post and the New Zealand Listener.
The Wahine hit Barrett Reef and six hours later rolled and sank.
There were 735 passengers, crew and one stowaway on the ship on April 10, 1968, and according to one passenger, Jillian Vanzetti, two heroic teenage boys saved her, and many others passengers whom they assisted to safety. They didnt leave the ship until the very end when it rolled.
The boys and the captain were the last to leave the sinking ship.
She had a photo of the young hero and to my amazement it was one of my best mates, Colin Bower.
He had never really spoken about his heroic work that morning with family and friends, but he had written the entire story in a personal journal and then locked it away.
Colin was a classic Kiwi male, never boasting about his own brave deeds and always so outrageously modest. During the 70s he was a young radical and was close friends with Beth Noble, who was a member of the Huia Commune.
Then, when I ran a successful ticket for the City Council, Auckland Regional Council and Auckland Harbour Board, Colin Bower and five other mates on Tims Team were elected on to the Board and when it changed to a Port Company, Colin was appointed as a director.
He also became an owner of Bower Transport and also Regans Transport which ran into trouble as soon as Colin died of cancer at the age of 41.
I was a pallbearer, MC and spoke at his funeral. I was so proud to discover this hidden story about his past.
Then, early on Tuesday morning, I climbed Bluff Hill in honour of Sir Edmund Hillary. It was inspiring to hear stories of his past and celebrate his life.
There has been some debate about whether or not a New Zealand mountain should be named after him or a national holiday declared in his honour. Personally I think New Zealand should produce a film on his life.
I was impressed by how effectively a film celebrated the life of Burt Munro. A movie set in the Himalayas and in New Zealand would be sure to succeed.
Tom Scott has already written the script, all we need now is the finance. Maybe Kiwibank could help.
After the excitement of climbing Bluff Hill, I thought attending Dancing with the Stars to support Rebecca would be rather ho-hum. To my surprise it turned out to be highly entertaining, with plenty of unscripted humour, fabulous dancing by Brendan and Candy and highly skilled dancing by the celebrities.
It was quite emotional to meet up again with all the crew. You get close to them all after eight weeks of shows.
Then it was off to Auckland for an interview on Close Up about why Southlands middle-aged men are so unhappy. I had plenty of theories, including the fact that we were working far too hard in Southland.
Only 3 percent of New Zealands population is expected to produce 18 percent of our nations wealth. We are working from dawn to dusk. We have half the 3 percent unemployment rate for the rest of New Zealand.
Then it was off again to a Duran Duran concert. Personally Im not all that keen on rock shows and was dragged to it kicking and screaming by my partner, Asha Dutt.
Im glad I went, the Vector Arena is great, but the acoustics are very mediocre. I wont insult my former home, but lets simply say that Stadium Southland, for a city of 50,000 people, is absolutely stunning compared with Vector Arena, a venue for Auckland with 1.2 million people.
I must say I was quite impressed with the band. They had worked with Bob Geldof on Live Aid. Fortunately I was tipped off about where the after-match function was to be held and had a long chat with Simon Le Bon.
Then it was straight back to Invers to complete the last chapter of my memoirs which will be published before Christmas.
What a week.
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