A tale of two trips!

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 12, Issue 543, 5 July 1994, Page 15

A tale of two trips!

The mayor and southern councillors had to charter plane to Taumarunui last Wednesday to get to their special rates meeting on time. Because of snow and icy conditions on State Highway Four the road remained closed until after 1 1.30am last Wednesday, presenting our elected representatives with a problem: they were due at their meeting in Taumarunui at 1 1am. Realising they were not going to make it a charter flight was organised with Mountainair of National Park to fly them to Taumarunui where they arrived at 11.30am. However the airlift did not extend to offering a ride to the Bulletin reporter as the plane was already full. Our reporter waited along about 100 other vehicles of all shapes and sizes banked up on

both SH49 and on S H4 (V alley Road) . He returned to Ohakune at 11.10am to try to find out if the meeting was still on. At the Bulletin office he learnt that the meeting had in fact started on time without the mayor and southern ward councillors. Agenda items involving the southern wards would be put on the backburner until later in the. meeting. The road was opened at 11.33am and our intrepid reporter finally got to the meeting an hour and 15 minutes later. The road was still treacherous and visibility limited by the spray of ice and snow thrown up by the dozens of truck-and-trailer units headed in both directions having been diverted from the Desert Road which remained closed.