Tauranga's unofficial steepest street, Hazelnut Way, is on the hate list of most posties with only a handful happy to learn the mail run that holdsthe dreaded "nuts".
Blake Gillard was given the run that included Otumoetai's twins Hazelnut Way and Chestnut Way when he shifted to Tauranga last April.
One taste of the cul-de-sacs off Little John Drive, on an already weaving hilly delivery route, and the new arrival knew he had drawn the short straw.
He remembered the response from his fellow posties when they learned what mail run he had been allocated.
"You are on the run with the nuts, good luck," he was told.
The quest to find Tauranga's steepest street begun after Dunedin's Baldwin St was this week named the world's steepest street. But even Tauranga's most severe gradient paled beside Baldwin St whose maximum gradient was 1:2.86. This meant that for every 2.86m travelled horizontally, the elevation changed by 1m.
Mr Gillard, a former world junior championships motocross rider, had delivered mail around Welcome Bay and was confident that nothing in the southern suburbs could match the gradient of Hazelnut Way. "It is the steepest by a mile."
Chestnut Way was slightly less challenging, but together the two streets inspired awe among even the most hardened posties.
"No one really wants to learn it [the route] because it is just so draining. You don't get paid extra for hard runs."
Mr Gillard now took the nuts in his stride, helped by his battery assisted e-bike. But it still took a real out-of-saddle effort to pedal up the street, with the incline seeming to become even steeper near the top.
He said other posties hated Hazelnut Way and adopted different methods to tackle delivering mail up and down the street when he filled in elsewhere. Some left the rest of the mail in a car at the bottom and walked the armful of mail around the cul-de-sac while others opted to walk their bikes.
Mr Gillard planned his route so that the mail bag was lightest at the nuts. On a hot summer's day he had to make sure he kept up his food and fluid intake or else he really struggled when it came to the twins.
"I get through two or three litres of water in the heat of the day."
Mr Gillard knew about Wouldbank Way and Cashmere Way - two roads off Welcome Bay's Kaitemako Rd that were on the Bay of Plenty Times' check list of steep streets. He said mail was delivered to these streets by car.
The clue that streets could be steeper than normal was the use of the term "way". Streets that ended in 'Way' were usually private roads in which the modern planning rule of a 1:8 gradient for public streets could be relaxed to 1:5 for a private right-of-way.
Hazelnut Way resident Nigel Drake said the street attracted a lot of runners and walkers who liked the workout offered by its steepness.
Quizzed whether it got the heart pounding, he responded: "Yes it does, I can assure you of that."
Mr Drake has heard the neighbourhood story of a rubbish truck that tipped over turning at the top of the street. Another accident attributed to the steepness of the street happened while he was a resident. A truck lost its brakes, knocked over a letter box and crashed into a wall to avoid a really serious situation developing.
He had witnessed some interesting manoeuvres that involved furniture removal trucks grinding their way up in reverse gear rather than risk turning. Entering steep driveways at the top was "fairly entertaining".
People out for evening walks also climbed to the top to take photos of beautiful sunsets that took in the panorama of the Kaimai Range.
Tauranga City Council transport manager Martin Parkes said they did not have a record of the city's steepest street. However the gradient standards for private rights-of-way were a little bit more generous than streets vested in the council.
He said the council tried to avoid streets getting too steep because it raised issues of stormwater run-off and cars bottoming on the boundary with driveways. "We don't want to inherit problems."
Mr Parkes said he had driven up Dunedin's Baldwin St and found it quite an experience. "I felt like the car was going to tip up."
Another issue with roads being too steep was that it increased the risk of people falling on footpaths or trying to negotiate a wheelchair.
Brent Trail of Surveying Services Ltd said that nowadays Tauranga roads generally had to be no steeper than a 1:8 gradient, with private rights-of-way allowed to go to 1:5.
Older sections of road like where Otumoetai Rd climbed up from Brookfield to Otumoetai were quite steep at about a 1:6 gradient. "It was a bit harder to move dirt in those days."