Any shells covered in big globs of oil needed to be moved to near the track for removal, while those with specks of contaminant on them were taken down in bags and put into the sea so the tidal action could clean them.
These guys and gals cleaned up tonnes of shells in a matter of days and from what I saw it looked mind-numbingly tedious.
According to their chief, the defence personnel take great heart when they get a smile or a wave from the public and so I reckon we should show our appreciation to them whenever we can.
You are doing a fabulous job guys and gals and this community will be in your debt.
Thank you.
***
Now there's one little Tauranga boy who won't be having a happy Christmas or holidays - coz he was caught nicking items from two games stores.
We can't tell you his name - because he is a thieving little underage criminal.
I chatted with him in my store and he seemed an intelligent and nice enough lad but, obviously, you never can tell. For within five minutes of me heading home to start work, he had left the store with $100 worth of unpaid goods in his pockets.
He was caught within 30 minutes at another store who questioned him about the goods he had in a see-through bag - maybe he wasn't so bright - both belonging to me and their store.
He eventually 'fessed up to nicking the stuff and we have film footage of the ratbag that may accidentally find its way on to YouTube.
Now I have no doubt he will get an easy ride in the Juvenile Court. His defence will no doubt be coming from a broken home and financial difficulties. The judge will no doubt weep a little as he tells him off, possibly crossly, and then that will be that. Another little crim heads back unpunished into society.
What peeves me is that I came from a broken home and we had financial difficulties, but neither my brother nor I ever stole anything.
If I were a judge hearing that lame excuse I'd punish someone twice as hard for being an oh-poor-me wimp.
***
I have to to say that escargots are one of the favourite things to munch into at a French restaurant.
Garlicy, buttery, chewy. Yum.
However, the other night as I was tucking into half a dozen of the little beasties my mind turned to the DoC staff who could have filled my plate hundreds of times after a little mishap.
It's a chilling tale that involves 6000 rare giant snails that had been rescued from a bulldozer's blade on the Stockton Plateau and were being stored in the safety of a Hokitika DoC facility.
Only something went slightly astray when a faulty temperature gauge sent a cooler unit into overdrive. About 800 of the endangered gastropods froze to death before staff cottoned on to their fate. You can guarantee there won't be too many DoC workers eating iceblocks for the next wee while.
***
And here I must commend the Bay of Plenty Times' fund-raising campaign for the Tauranga Community Foodbank.
In these really tough economic times those of us who are able to should do what we can to make things easier for people who are not as well off as we are. Foodbanks are a good way to give a little to others.
The Tauranga Foodbank has been stretched to breaking limit this year by the ever-increasing calls on its supplies. At one stage it almost had to shut its doors for a week to restock.
Foodbank trustee Don Brebner related tales of children who were so hungry they couldn't wait for frozen bread to thaw before devouring it. And this is in the Bay of Plenty.
With Christmas coming charities in our region are going to be inundated with families in need. Let's be generous.
richard@richardmoore.com
