Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Rae Roadley: Niggling nuisances - then came an event that put it all in perspective

Rae Roadley
By Rae Roadley
Northern Advocate columnist·Northern Advocate·
30 Mar, 2019 01:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The waves were illuminated by nothing more than moonbeams. Photo/Getty Images

The waves were illuminated by nothing more than moonbeams. Photo/Getty Images

THE COUNTRY SIDE

The nuisances began with a flat battery which led to more niggling nuisances.

While glitches continue unabated, they are less than nothing. Nothing more than the routines of daily life.

Rae Roadley

The farmer and I were off to Dargaville and en route home I planned to visit a friend thus would leave my car en route. As he set off, trailing a dust whirlwind, I prepared to do the same but found the battery dead and a dilemma.

Thanks to a kind retailer near our meeting point, the farmer waited while I snagged a car off the farm manager.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Days later, heading out at 6am to cadge a ride to volunteer at an A&P show, my car didn't corner well. Slow down. Heaps of time. Then it dawned. Flat tyre.

My tyre was shredded but my friends both had had shredded flatties. I was comforted. Photo/Getty Images
My tyre was shredded but my friends both had had shredded flatties. I was comforted. Photo/Getty Images

In the dark. No cellphone cover. I returned home and set off in the farmer's ute. My tyre was shredded but my had friends both shredded flatties. I was comforted.

At the show, our car battery failed. A door had been left open for the comfort of a puppy.
"Probably something to do with me," I said. "I've had a flat battery and flat tyre in the past week."

"Hmmm," said the puppy and vehicle owner. "The moon's in Pisces. That can cause annoying problems for some people."

The moon wouldn't leave Pisces until April 22. Weeks away. I don't follow horoscopes but, curious enough to do research, found the moon in Pisces offered oodles of positives.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Yes, glitches, but just for some who're opposite Pisces," he said. "Are you a Virgo?" Well, yes.

Guests came into our cabin and on the first night their water tank ran dry.

Then they had an ant invasion. I told them they had no need to leave at check out time, then realised that wasn't true. Others would be arriving.

Then came the mass murder in Christchurch. Photo/Getty Images
Then came the mass murder in Christchurch. Photo/Getty Images

Chocolates served as a small gesture, but the couple didn't care. They'd lived in a caravan, they said, and had showered in icy water in mid winter.

Discover more

The Country Side: Plastic surgery

02 Feb 09:00 PM

Hey, sucker

16 Feb 06:00 PM

Farm grown truths

23 Feb 09:30 PM

Floss the dog confirms life after death

02 Mar 06:00 PM

Then they admitted to being confused. They'd failed to find the river mentioned in the guest info folder.

They'd walked way up the beach and had finally concluded it must be the tiny creek past the marae. But wasn't it too small to warrant such a grand name as the Otamatea River?

The central arm of the Kaipara Harbour we live on is, in fact, the river they sought. Their mistake was natural enough. How many harbour arms are referred to as rivers?

After we'd laughed long and hard, we wondered if other cabin guests had the same misunderstanding. At least they want to return.

Then came the mass murder.

While glitches continue unabated, they are less than nothing. Nothing more than the routines of daily life.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A water pipe in a paddock broke. The washing machine broke, another tyre on my car went flat. My car boot wouldn't close. The battery went flat again.

Late one night I coaxed the farmer outside so he could see moonlight playing on the river.

The full moon had created recent tides that were both higher and lower than usual.

That night a demarcation line ran parallel to the shore. In the distance the sea was all dark shadows; in the foreground it gleamed.

Tiny waves licked the shore and sparkled so bright at first I thought they reflected torchlight from a flounder fisher. Then I wondered if the effect was phosphorescence.

But no. The waves were illuminated by nothing more than moonbeams.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

live
Northern Advocate

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds

02 Jul 09:20 PM
Premium
Northern Advocate

Bay News: Historic clock heads home

02 Jul 05:00 PM
Northern Advocate

Northland firm to pay $15.5k for unauthorised marine structures

02 Jul 05:00 PM

There’s more to Hawai‘i than beaches and buffets – here’s how to see it differently

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds
live

Fibre outage and evacuations top of South Island, Auck Harbour Bridge hit by high winds

02 Jul 09:20 PM

Rain started falling at the top of the country before dawn.

Premium
Bay News: Historic clock heads home

Bay News: Historic clock heads home

02 Jul 05:00 PM
Northland firm to pay $15.5k for unauthorised marine structures

Northland firm to pay $15.5k for unauthorised marine structures

02 Jul 05:00 PM
'Forever 25, our hero': Murder victim was trying to protect his cousin

'Forever 25, our hero': Murder victim was trying to protect his cousin

02 Jul 08:00 AM
From early mornings to easy living
sponsored

From early mornings to easy living

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP