Hastings postie retires after pushing the envelope for 46 years

Hastings postie Jenny Lean is about to retire after 46 years delivering post to Havelock North and Flaxmere. Photo / Warren Buckland

More than 40 years into her 46-year tenure working for NZ Post, Hastings postie Jenny Lean was still learning how to adapt to some dramatic changes in the job.

Now, as her 65th birthday approaches, she is getting ready to enjoy a simple retirement tending to her garden, doing work around her house and taking walks without having to stop every few doors to grab a package.

Her last day at work was on Thursday, April 27.

She left school when she was around 16 or 17 years old and worked as a fruit picker for about two years before beginning work as a postie, which she stuck with ever since.

She said she was drawn to work that was different and kept her outdoors.

“I can’t be stuck inside, [I like] meeting different people all the time.”

She said she liked getting to know people, including some of the older people on her route.

“You always wish them a happy birthday or something - people wait out at their gate and [the postie] is the only person they see sometimes.”

She believes the biggest change she saw during her career, and one of the most difficult to adapt to at first, was the shift about five years ago in Hawke’s Bay from bikes to the electric ‘Paxster’ vehicles now used by NZ Post.

“There is always something new they do inside that you have got to adapt to: sorting mail, and how you scan parcels and everything,” Lean said.

“We used to bike on the right-hand side, but now we have to go on the other side, so that was a big adaption.”

Impressively, she has only been bitten once and had one or two near misses with dogs while on the job.

“You just get the dog ranger out and they sort it out. Especially in a few areas, you can get sick of the dogs. You have just got to be aware of where they are.”

Jenny Lean has seen many changes during her time as a postie, including the phasing in of digital scanning and a shift from push bikes to motorised electric vehicles, known as 'Paxsters', to get around. Photo / Warren Buckland

She didn’t think she had served the longest at NZ Post out of anyone in the country.

“I think there was one guy who did 50 years, but naaah, you’d have to be crazy.”

Co-worker Pam Laken said she could probably count the number of sick days Lean had taken in the years she had worked with her on one hand, and she had even once tried to work after a serious fall at home.

“She was saying, ‘I’m okay, I’m okay, it’s only a sprain’. The boss ended up having to send her to the doctor, and it was broken,” Laken said.

She said that Lean always handled every change that came and adapted relatively quickly.

Lean will be celebrating her departure on Saturday, and will also have a celebration for her birthday on Wednesday, May 3.

“Time to go, I’ve done my dash,” Lean said.