Rants & Raves: Pay to wait

Traffic chaos on the Northern Motorway. Photo / Natalie Slade

Tell us what you love about life in New Zealand — and what needs to change. Email rantandrave@ nzherald.co.nz

Rant
If a toll road is impacted with road works and there are delays incurred for road users, shouldn't the toll takers simply waive the toll? Stumping up $2 a pop to get delayed and make your journey longer than the alternative route just doesn't seem logical!
Tracy

Rave
I would like to thank the young man who stopped to help me after I had fallen on the last (downhill) stretch of the road to the lookout area on top of the hill behind Bowentown Camping Ground near Waihi on Sunday morning. He lifted me up and drove me back to the camping ground. I was so shaken by the accident that I thanked him without asking his name, but deeply appreciate his action in going out of his way to help.
Shelagh

Rant
There are not enough pay machines at the carpark at the Auckland Airport Domestic terminal. Standing in a queue seven or eight people deep to wait to pay for a parking ticket is not acceptable. An elderly person almost collapsed in the heat waiting the other day when I was there.
John

Rave
I have just completed cycling the Hauraki rail track. Near Waihi I got a puncture and wheeled my bike along to Waihi Sport & Cycles to get it fixed. Within half an hour the bike was wheeled out with a new tube for a very modest $15 charge. Thank you Waihi Sport & Cycle.
Iain Campbell

Rant
At Middlemore Hospital outside the entrance to the Edmund Hillary Block the ground is littered with cigarette butts. There is a sign saying Smoke Free but this does not seem to deter people. This smell is offensive and strikes you as you walk on the footpath beside the building. Why doesn't the hospital provide a large bin for smokers to use? The one rubbish bin provided is always full with other litter.
Leslye

Rave
We'd like to thank the kind bus passengers and driver last Friday morning in Khyber Pass Rd who helped our son, who was on his way to work. He is mildly disabled and suffered a brief seizure. This really was a case of "the kindness of strangers", which extended to the wonderful ambulance staff. He and we, his parents, are deeply grateful.
Lesley Max