Paul Hickey: Job satisfaction is food for thought

Rotorua pilot Ben Fry probably loves his job as much as I do mine. Photo / File

How does the saying go ... find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life.

For me that certainly rings true, and this week I've had the chance to see another couple of examples that make it so real.

The names Karena and Kasey Bird would have meant nothing to most of us a couple of years ago, but once these two sisters from Maketu made the decision to try out for Masterchef NZ their lives certainly changed, and now they are "living the dream". Their job is now essentially travelling and sharing their cooking stories.

They were in town with us on Monday and had a great audience at their cooking demonstration at Rotorua Central.

They certainly ooze personality and had everyone hanging on every word. The next day they were flying to the Sunshine Coast in Australia to be part of a food fair in Noosa. Wow, they've come a long way and wouldn't feel like they are working at all.

I've also had the chance this week to finally meet the newest pilot of our Baytrust Rescue Helicopter. Ben Fry is his name, and he's new to Rotorua and loving it. All pilots have a passion for flying, and he now gets to combine that love with an amazing service in Rotorua.

Unfortunately, there are many jobs not quite so exciting. But if you have the opportunity to shape your passion into a paying job, why wouldn't you jump at the chance.

Queen's Birthday weekend is coming soon and I've got a weekend in Hawke's Bay to give away. If you want to be in to win it, just register now at our win in Rotorua page at thehits.co.nz

Have you had the chance to drive past Waiotapu Tavern recently? Or to be more precise, the intersection to turn off to Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland?

It has long been a notorious blackspot on our region's roads, and I was pretty pleased to see work being carried out recently to make it safer.

But I tell you what, I'm actually thinking the changes have made it worse.

In the past couple of weeks, I have been so close to crashing, never my fault of course. Heading south, there is now a lane to turn left towards the tourist attraction, but this can now block the views and confuse drivers coming out on to the highway, which happened in front of me last week.

Then a couple of days ago, I was travelling north when a car pulled out in front of me on to the highway, and into the newly created merging lane.

I thought I was fine to continue past in the main lane - but the driver wasn't actually heading to the merge lane at all, but straight into my path.

There were quite a few deep breaths taken I can tell you.

Paul Hickey is the host of the locally based 9am-3pm show on The Hits Rotorua 97.5FM. Follow on Facebook The Hits Rotorua and on Twitter @paulhickeynz