A fear of heights is not an attribute for this job. Normal maintenance it may be, but it's not quite the daily routine for Laser Plumbing employees Tom McLean and Olly Genet. They were tasked with the job of cleaning the top gutters and replacing a few tiles on the
Waiapu St John Cathedral in Napier last week.
With the bulk of the building standing at 18m high, equivalent to a six-storey building, they required more than the normal ladder, especially to reach the 36m-high Bell Tower. For apprentice Mr Genet it was his first time up a crane. He admitted to a few "anxious moments" before being harnessed in and lifted into the void on a 42m hydraulic boom, but enjoyed the experience, especially "the great view from up there".
Mr McLean said it was all part of the job and "definitely one of the more interesting jobs working from that height". He is no stranger to altitude having worked on jobs around Mt Ruapehu and doesn't "have any fear after having leant out of a helicopter" for his work, although he later admitted the five minutes the two spent working the towering Bell Tower was a bit disconcerting.
Latley Civil Engineers contracts manager Mark Donnelly said the annual maintenance was a job they had done for the past three years. The pigeons pooed in the gutter, which then ended up blocking the downpipes causing flooding and damage inside the building. "The building has internal downpipes that are impossible to access and it's important to keep them clear." The current Cathedral, the fourth church to sit in the site, was opened in 1960. "It's quite a neat building, with copper sheathing inside the gutters, which will last for many years," Mr Donnelly said.
