Friday, April 24, 2009

The Kiwi way

Kiwis seem to take great pride in their 'number 8 wire', 'do it yourself' mentality, even though these days I don't know how many of us know what number 8 wire is.
I was driving into town the other day and past one of those ride on scooter thingys, waiting to cross the road. This model had been a bit customised.
Since it is nearing winter, they had installed a roof. I am sure this is an accessory you can buy, but this guy had found a cheaper alternative. He had a small paddling pool strapped on the top. It was the perfect size (though not a matching colour) to cover his vehicle.
There he was happily sitting under his paddling pool - designed to be completely waterproof, though probably not designed to be a roof.
I admit it looked slightly odd and didn't exactly blend in, but I still for some reason admired his efforts.
Perhaps it was the ingenuity or the not buying the expensive accessories from the supplier or maybe the complete disregard for image over performance.
It also reminded me of my Grandma. My late Grandma had one of these ride one scooters and seeing the paddling pool, I think she would have been disappointed not to have thought of it herself.

1 comment:

Summerfields said...

Fabulous, loving the ingenuity. It wasn't 'till we left the country that we realised how unique kiwis are in this trait. Brilliant.

5 Favourite Sights Seen

  • 1996 Watching tropical lightning turn night to day, outside a little wooden church in a small village in Sabah.
  • 2004 Flying down the Rainbow Valley at 8000ft in a cessna on a clear blue day.
  • 2003 Seeing and hearing Michael Schmacher rolling out of the pit garage in his Ferrari in Hungary.
  • 2009 Chancing upon 100 or more dolphins just off the Kaikoura Coast swimming around, jumping out of the water, doing somersaults and generally having fun.
  • 2006 Finding a pool at the bottom of a waterfall in the bush at Kaikoura that was full of playing baby seals.