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

Window washers a blight on Northland's landscape for tourists and residents alike

By Craig Cooper, editor
Northern Advocate·
3 Feb, 2017 04:00 PM2 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

Window washers are basically beggars, writes Craig Cooper.

Window washers are basically beggars, writes Craig Cooper.

Many Northlanders will be familiar with the sense of "I'm home" when they drive over the Brynderwyn Hills and look down and out to Bream Bay and Whangarei Heads.

Sadly, this summer there was another view that reminded me I was back in unique territory.
And it didn't fill me with
a sense of place, or pride.

Driving along Kamo Rd, and at the intersection with State Highway 1, there they were, about 10 window washers begging.

I say "begging" because I still can't think of a better way of describing the demanding of money for such a non-essential service.

After a week out of Whangarei, seeing them again reminded me what a blight they are on Northland.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They serve no practical purpose, and it's a bad look for the region - a sight that every tourist who has driven north this summer will have seen.

Motorists have a right to stop at an intersection and not be hassled.

The reality is that if you don't want to be hassled, you have to take the initiative and observe where the washers are and make sure they see your "no" hand signal.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Because staring straight ahead and ignoring them usually results in one of them swooping in and pouring water on your car.

Enterprising young people who should be admired for having the motivation to get out there and make a few honest few dollars?

There's nothing to be admired about enterprising young people who make throat cutting gestures to people taking their photographs.

Or obscene gestures to motorists who aren't in the camp that admire them for their entrepreneurial spirit.

Hopefully they vanish now that schools go back, and we won't see them again next summer because the New Zealand Transport Agency fills the loophole that allows them to get away with their game.

We need to come up with some means of stopping them, before one of them gets run over.

Accidentally, of course.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

'Surreal intelligence': Orcas seen sharing prey with humans

Northern Advocate

Teen nails turning backyard studio into a thriving business

Northern Advocate

'End my suffering': Mum's grief after toddler's fall from moving ute


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

'Surreal intelligence': Orcas seen sharing prey with humans
Northern Advocate

'Surreal intelligence': Orcas seen sharing prey with humans

The study highlights orcas’ potential to form bonds with other species.

16 Jul 01:00 AM
Teen nails turning backyard studio into a thriving business
Northern Advocate

Teen nails turning backyard studio into a thriving business

15 Jul 11:00 PM
'End my suffering': Mum's grief after toddler's fall from moving ute
Northern Advocate

'End my suffering': Mum's grief after toddler's fall from moving ute

15 Jul 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
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