Kia ora, hello and welcome to Pink Total Transport’s 4th monthly blog. Mixing it up this month as August was not the best !!  Everything humming along nicely then BAM into Alert Level 4 on the 18th. Bus wise everything came to a screaming halt, cancellations or postponements poured in. On the mobility side medical and emergency appointments only, including transport for Covid jabs.
To all  businesses out there, clients and suppliers, commiserations to you all. Special shout out to our mobility clients. It is no fun being locked up day after day and it doesn’t get much better in Level 2.
Anyhoo, onwards and upwards, summer is coming 😊

​This bus trip actually happened mid-September so technically should be in next month’s blog, but as the content is all about travelling in and out of Auckland under Level 4 conditions, it is more appropriate and interesting to include here.
What happened is this : Bruce was asked by T&G Global to collect 30 RSE workers who had been in the Auckland and Northland areas for many months and bring them to HB for work. They had all  gone through the required vaccinations, isolation and Covid testing, the pickup point was over the border in Bombay.
 The conditions for travel to Auckland under Level 4 are stringent and T&G Global were bang on the ball. The driver had to have proof of a Covid test within 7 days, so Bruce shot off for that. A barrier had to separate the driver and passengers, so Classique Plastics erected that immediately, and there were pages and pages of information regarding travel plans and bus signage which T&G Global dealt with. ​

Auckland motorway 11am, spooky. The RSEs  boarded at Bombay and off they went to the official Police Check Point at Mercer where the bus was ushered to a sidebay and police boarded the bus. Every passenger and the driver had to show proof of a recent Covid test and names were checked off the list supplied by T&G.
No problems arose so off to Taupo for the only comfort stop allowed then to the T&G Irongate accommodation complex and straight back into isolation.
With August only being half a month ( 1st to 17th ), we are including 2 of our drivers this month. Firstly, may we introduce Trevor, who says Hi, I’m married to Carol, we have two sons, 8 grandkids and 2 great grands. No 3 on the way to keep us up to speed.
Trained as a truck and tractor mechanic with the International Harvester Dealers for 31/2 years, went to Bailie Motors Hastings (Truck Dept) straightening truck chassis for 2 years then moved to International Dealers Gisborne for 7 months to Field Service Grain and Seed Harvesters. Returned to Bailies for 12 months, changed again and joined a general carrier, Tollison Transport to drive and maintain ground spreads, haystock and log trucks for 21/2 years. New challenge. Joined Rothmans Tobacco Company (later British American Tobacco Co ) for a planned 12 months- forgot to leave and stayed for 35 years. Worked as a production fitter in all departments for 20 years then moved into production manager role until factory closed in 2006 and was retired early.
Home maintenance for 2 years, then joined Mackersey Construction Co to work as a gate keeper  ( for tradies ) to a secure area at HB Prison for 9 months.
Later acquired my P license and drove for Nimons, the joined Intercity buses for 5 years.
Retired. Then started with Pink Total Transport ( to do a wee job ) then a little servicing and driving.
While all this was going on family and hobbies involved small bore target shooting, travelling all over the North Island for competitions. Just to keep things interesting from 1965 to 1990 I built and raced A grade stock cars all over the country as well. Also did 8 years as Meeanee Track Steward for the New Zealand Speedway Federation.
All in all have always been entertained- never bored.

​Started farming in 1978, at Te Pohue, until 1987, and then came to town. I then started driving and learning truck driving, carting apples to the then APB, then to Shipside (break-bulk – oh how those days have gone!!) I then moved to RFL as a full time casual driver, until injury forced me to take some time off. I filled the time doing a 3-year degree in Computing at EIT, then back driving, as I could not get a job in the computing industry! I drove for Halls, going to Auckland overnight and return for 3 years – no life at all; days became nights, nights were days, and I didn’t know my A from my elbow!!, I tore my rotator cuff tendon, at which point I decided I wasn’t going to make sixty doing this sort of work. Therefore, after a layoff for 14 months I got a job at EIT in the IT Dept., until I retired.
After retirement, my old boss Mark Scofield (RFL) asked me to drive one of Art Deco Buses, doing cruise ship runs, until the Ruby Princess came to Napier, and all that entailed! Covid saw me washing Bruce’s buses for something to do, away from people, and away from Covid and all its restrictions. Bruce lost a couple of drivers, which saw me filling the gaps, until now when I seem to be a permanent part of the scenery. This keeps me busy, along with occasionally driving an Art Deco bus.
I now have more than enough work for a retiree, but with a great team, and such nice people.

​And the phew !! of the month is the dinky new roundabout by the Napier RSA on the intersection of Hastings and Vautier Streets. What a wee cutey and doing such a good job 😊

And the phew !! of the month is the dinky new roundabout by the Napier RSA on the intersection of Hastings and Vautier Streets. What a wee cutey and doing such a good job 😊

​Hello and welcome to Pink Total’s 3rd monthly blog. Looking back at July and continuing to introduce you to our drivers and vehicles.

​The following week we had the pleasure of transporting this dance crew to Toitoi Hastings to participate in Showquest which boasts to be Aotearoa's biggest performing arts competition. Last year due to Covid the competition was moved online, so this year it was wonderful for them to be able to get back on stage and perform live. They came away with a swag of awards including 3rd place in their region.

"Well done Napier Girls' High! “

​And starting in April …..
We began transporting workers to 2 packhouses for MSD. One in Flaxmere, the other in Whakatu. We have had an excellent relationship with Ezra and the workers themselves. The numbers have fluctuated and declined but 2 stood out, Dwayne and Mavis who every morning were ready and waiting for their transport. Rain, hail and freezing (never shine at 5.20am !!)

We have thoroughly enjoyed these 4 months (still going in July) and look forward to strengthening our relationship with Ezra and MSD in the future.

This month our featured mobility/bus driver is Sue

​Hi, my name is Sue Hobbs and I'm probably the longest serving driver for Pink Total as I started when the business was owned by Robin Fryer.  He wanted a break from doing the shuttle van for the RSA on Friday nights and said to me "when you get your P licence, I'll give you some work.”  Hence, I did get my "P" Licence and took over doing the RSA courtesy shuttle and some mobility work.  When the current owners, Janet and Bruce Raitt purchased the business I thought that it might have been the end of my shuttle driving career but no... I have since gone on and gained my Class 2 (heavy traffic) licence which has enabled me to drive some of Bruce’s bigger buses and the smallest, a 20 seater coaster which I enjoy.  Over the years I have had trips to Auckland and Wellington airports, taking orchard workers back.  Also taking Senior students from Flaxmere and Karamu High Schools to the Trades Academy program run by the EIT. Lastly mobility work taking clients to different destinations.  I enjoy the many varied facets of Pink Total Transport and have met many interesting people. 
 
And amongst those interesting people were participants in the July 2021 Ladies Charted Club National Tournament, held at the Taradale Club. Participants came from Auckland to Invercargill and were housed at 8 different venues around Napier, arriving at different times on different days. Pink Total provided all the bus transport. The logistics over 6 days were huge, but everything went very smoothly, and everyone was collected from the airport, transferred from accommodations to the club and back, and back to the airport with no hassles at all. A very successful week indeed!!
During the school holidays we transported children via bus for 5 School Holiday programmes to a myriad of venues including the aquarium, Onekawa Pools, movies in Napier and Hastings, Marine Parade, Flipout, Cornwall Park …..
And in amongst all this EIT, club rugby and other trips etc carried on as normal 😊