<&>Wellington Corpus of Spoken New Zealand English Version One <&>Copyright 1998 School of Linguistics & Applied Language Studies <&>Victoria University of Wellington <&>side one <&>0:39 the one thing that's a no no of the mail contractors is don't forget their daily paper they've often said to you chuck the bills over <.>th the first bridge you come to bring me the cheques er pretty regularly but for heaven's sake don't forget the paper <&>1:00 <,,><&>3 it's five thirty in the morning in tuatapere a small farming and timber milling settlement about an hour's drive west of invercargill rural deliverer and farmer john harvey and i have risen for me painfully early to a brisk southern spring morning and already john is busy sorting the mail in the back of an old grocery store in the township it's been a daily starting point for his r d run for the past seventeen years and in this spectrum programme i'm joining john for the run before we can go however there's still mail to sort for the over one hundred and fifty four box holders scattered round the two hundred kilometre r d route <,> see we've um we've even got a letter from er FINland come through here to yeah just because we're away out in the sticks it doesn't mean to say that we don't get <&>2:00 er some mail from overseas some of the er box holders and <.>there's there's some more here from er <,> where the devil's that from italy somewhere yes i think it is <{1><[1>yes so <.>there <{2><[2><.>i've word <[1>mm? <[2>so <.>they so they've er they've heard of tuatapere er oh yes they've heard of tuatapere <,,> yes once the mail has been sorted and bundled we load them into the cab of the ute along with those precious papers and the piles of advertising giveaways that even the rural people haven't been able to avoid so it's a crowded cab we climb into just before six a m ready to start the run that should do it <,,><&>6 <&>walks to truck and starts engine warm up <,> so we're off are we we're off now yes <,> we're er away before the er shops open on the first part of the run but <&>3:00 er er we'll collect the bread and that in the er second part first paper will be belted off at <.>the the old police station you got to keep on the right side of him you see so laughs yep we'll get the paper there you've got a <.>v very practised er rural deliverer's chuck out the window here john laughs yes guaranteed to hit the first puddle after it's been raining laughs the first drop we'll word for the actual mail this is the beginning of the happy valley section of the the tuatapere little word valley r d <,,><&>4 so the trick here is to get as close as you can to the um to the mail box <.>th that's right without the er without the lids falling down and scratching the side of your car that's right the close and without knocking the MAIL box over too <{><[>i suppose laughs <[><.>that's that's right that's dead right now that's not hard to do either <.>i <,> one <&>4:00 winter i was coming round and i was going a bit fast in between the mail box and the fence and i put the brakes on <.>and and slid clean into the mail box so er voc <.>i i take them with <.>s quite a bit of care now whether it's sunny <.>or or raining so you struck a bit of ice did you yes it was frozen and er <,> boof laughs and <.>wen the car into a slide and boof went the mail box plus a dirty big dent in the bumper bar <,,><&>7 this one gets a newspaper too does he voc by jove you're dead right there have <.>to remember what i said before forget everything else but forget their newspaper and <.>they'd <.>you'd <.>they'd they'd quarter you i think i was just trying to remember if you actually put one IN the <.>b last one yes i'm beginning to wonder that myself i think i did though i think i did i know he'll <.>be when he won't go too crook if i've forgotten him that's er <.>y that's er <.>w the good thing about it er that first customer anyhow <&>5:00 <,,><&>3 would that be the case with most of the people on the delivery you'd know them john? oh yes <.>i you know being connected with a lot of organisations in <.>the in the community <.>is is er which is the lifeblood of the rural community everybody takes part <.>and and er to make er any event successful er whether it's sport <.>or or through the theatre or that and er i <.>meet i meet all the box holders i don't meet them er on <.>the on the run i er i see them at <.>a at a function <,> you notice you'd think i was driving in america wouldn't you laughs yes i was just going to comment on the fact that we seem to be on the er american side of the <{><[>road here <[>that's right i can't see much point in crossing over the road for a change so er i <.>s just stick to this side but <.>how <.>i'm i'm er pretty observant and er at this time of the morning you're very er you're very unlikely to strike too many vehicles on the road <&>6:00 right most of your patrons would still be in BED wouldn't they that's right i see a light over <.>i on over there at that house he's er he's up early this morning that's one thing about this part the er the mail car <&>pronounced carrr acts as an alarm clock really because er soon as you've gone past there you hear the er you see the look in the <.>mir rear vision mirror you can see the bedroom light switched on i believe it's the er the cocky er kicking his wife out of bed and telling her to run out in her nightie to get the paper for him <{1><[1>while he lays back in bed you know <{2><[2>i guess that has happened <{3><[3><,> i haven't really checked up to know for sure <{4><[4>but er <,> it wouldn't surprise me <[1>laughs <[2>laughs <[3>laughs <[4>laughs you're not er you're not tempted to give them a TOOT if they don't er look like they're waking up oh i've done that too you know there's one or two that er you can er give a bit of gyppo to <,> especially if you know they've been out the night before bending their elbow you know <{><[><.>that's <.>that's that's it <[>laughs down at the er the local <{><[>yeah yeah <[>yeah <,,><&>6 <&>7:00 fairly new and elaborate looking mail box there yes this is er one of the er clients on the mail run there a school teacher actually he er <.>e innovative sort of a guy and turned round and bought one of those kitset homes and er put it together in the you know the wood stain er oh the original colonial <.>s er style and his mail box has er taken followed suit you know so er it'd be er reGARDed as fairly TRENdy round here i'd <{><[>imagine <[>i'd say so yes it would be er but he's sort of a fairly trendy guy so you know laughs mind you it's not a bad mail box plenty of room so er one shouldn't er compliment <.>it one should compliment him on it there's the odd one there you know you <.>w <,> coughs you wouldn't er you wouldn't put a packet of smokes in really is that right oh some of them are slapped together <,> couple of bits of four by one <.>and bit of <.>p <&>8:00 made out of packing case or something <,> they're supposed to have regulation mail boxes but you know why worry if they're happy to get it in that yeah doesn't worry me i'm quite happy to put it in it as long as it keeps the rain off the paper i <{><[>suppose <[>that's the main thing that's the main thing <,,><&>4 this is where the the local doctor went over here er oh god he was er busy concentrating and er studying up for the er for his next operation i believe and he had the book stuck in the steering wheel and he was studying up the procedure that was required for the er the operation and he er he dropped it over the side <{><[>did he <[>HE just went straight ahead he never even turned the corner laughs finished <.>up that's a big drop about forty or fifty feet down there finished up in the rawi river did he er walk out of it <{><[>all right <[>oh yes he walked out i wasn't there at the time but i bet he had single remark to make anyhow so laughs a real character <,> <&>9:00 ever er done that yourself er no it er not into the er into a river but er er eighteen months or so ago it was snowing and i come round er a corner and er just up finlay road actually just over there from pukemere and shot round the corner and er i wasn't going a great deal of knots either but er she took off from me and <.>i i knocked down two chain of fence laughs skittled that out so so you were out the following day helping the FARmer put it <{><[>back in? <[>that's right that's er you know <.>you're seem to be the unwritten law here if you knock the fence down you got to get out and fix it up put a new one up so consequently er i had to give up being a mailman for a day and become a fencer laughs so would it be a factor as <.>you as we're driving round er especially in winter time you got the snow down this far? that's right snow and ice you know and er as you can see we're sort of starting to get into <.>the the highlands a bit now where er it'd be a er be a source of amusement and <&>10:00 merriment for the er for the box holders too i'd imagine <.>the oh yes <.>the it er anything like that that happens to the mailman and i tell you what it travels like er rifle fire be no mail for this guy at the top of the er run so er let's pull up shove the er paper in his mail box close the lid and we're away again but he appreciates it at christmas time he drops a box of chocolates or a bottle of wine or something in the mail box so you know you er <.>y you got a bit <.>of the clanking of bottles in the back of the er the ute here on er around christmas time that's right yes about the last week of christmas <.>there's there's a lot of goodies that er anything from bottles to PERfume to CHOColate <.>to to er a GOOSE you know <.>so <.>i i can't see YOU having a great deal of use for perfume john laughs <.>i'm i'm not er not casting any aspersions <{><[>here <[>laughs no no er you know i <&>11:00 haven't had any use for it yet we'll put it that way yeah the er <.>th the er perfume's for <.>your for your er for your wife <{><[>word <[>that's right <.>she <.>she she does the mail run er as often as i do and actually we share it really so er although she doesn't do this part of the mail run because it's er a bit hilly and rough and rugged for her so er so er <.>i i do this area you know all the time but she's not too keen driving off the seal NO no in the frost and <.>the the snow and <.>the the rain it's not quite so pleasant <.>i <.>we <.>w we're pretty high up here got someone waiting for the mail here <{><[>have we <[>that's right that's right <,> <.>wait wait till i wind the window down yeah g'day see you got a couple of letters from overseas good look at that <{><[>that'll that'll make the wife's day eh <[>that's right yep yeah oh and you got your bloody rates bill too how does that make YOUR <{><[>day <[>oh yeah that makes it now <{><[>laughs yeah yeah and how's the lambing going anyhow <[>word heavy mate <&>12:00 all right we're getting there oh <.>that's that's okay weather hasn't been too bad though has it oh no just the last couple of days yeah oh that bloody snow is right down you lose a few? oh one or two <{><[>not too bad though <[>yeah yeah i'll get over that yeah oh <.>k <.>keith's <&>pronounced kis keith's family and that been farming up here for years <{1><[1><.>how how many years have you been <{2><[2>stuck up here <[1>yeah <[2>oh yeah all my life all <{><[>your life yeah right <[>laughs yeah yeah oh yeah good neck of the woods oh yeah it's all right yeah yeah have you had a good ride too YEAH YEAH he's er he's <.>pr <.>he's he's reasonably careful coming around the corner oh yeah oh well <{><[>i better let you get back in and have <.>your voc i suppose you've had your breakfast have you <[>word yeah yeah right laughs <.>re <{><[>read the paper <[>laughs word laughs okay k b word headlines at any rate okay right oh all right catch you later see you see you <,,> you were saying earlier when you were sorting there's a lot of er a lot of the same names around here <{><[>that <[>that's right yes er there's from <&>13:00 memory there there's er there's at least five erskines on the er er rural delivery there's five or six marshals on the rural delivery just to name a two and that erskine that would be a good er a good scottish <{><[>name <.>would <[><.>good good good scottish name yes the original settlers of tuatapere the erskine family or the papatotara area i SHOULD say <&>13:19