Te Puke soldier Eddie Wright lending a hand in Tonga

Lance Corporal Eddie Wright works on the guttering of a community hall in Tonga, helping the island kingdom in its ongoing recovery from last year's volcanic eruption.

Te Puke’s Eddie Wright started off his New Zealand Army career as a pipefitter-welder and firefighter, but can now list plumber, gasfitter and drainlayer to his trades.

Lance Corporal Wright, 30, is a member of the 2nd Engineer Regiment in the New Zealand Army that recently went to Tonga on Exercise Tropic Twilight, an annual Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) series of activities conducted in the South Pacific, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Seventeen unit members, along with five support personnel, worked alongside local soldiers from His Majesty’s Armed Forces (HMAF) to complete construction and maintenance tasks on the island.

Lance Corporal Wright was a pipefitter-welder before joining the NZ Army in 2011 as a firefighter.

After seven years he was ready for another change, so swapped trades to become a plumber, gasfitter and drainlayer.

He said he loved his time as a firefighter at Waiouru and switched only so he could get trade qualifications.

Getting a trade through the Defence Force was similar to the civilian way, but with better perks, he said.

“You do all the same courses as civilians, just with the military flavour. You might be conducting military training one week and then tradie work the next.”

Working in Tonga was a great experience, he said.

“It’s pretty full on. We’ve had a lot of work to do and limited plumbers, but it’s been great.”

Lance Corporal Wright’s main tasks were to install six 10,000-litre tanks equipped with pump systems, and to create or repair water lines so community halls had access to clean rainwater.

“It’s definitely rewarding that we are doing work that there is a real need for.”

The New Zealanders had been working closely alongside an HMAF plumber.

“There’s a lot of differences, but it’s good to learn how they do things and show them how we do things.”

Integration and working alongside the HMAF were the highlight of the trip, Lance Corporal Wright said.

The Tongans had shown them around and they had eaten and held kava sessions together, as well as watched HMAF rugby games.

“It’s surreal we are getting to do these sorts of things while we are overseas working.”

This was the second Tropic Twilight to take place in the past 12 months, after one held in Niue in July involving NZ Army engineers and navy hydrographers.