Waimea Weekly Locally Owned and Operated
Wednesday 11 November 2020
NELSON VINTAGE CAR CLUB
CAR RALLY
Page 9
SUNDAY 15th NOVEMBER
Berries need sun, not rain
Pages 16 - 17
Page 24
Herbie comes to Nelson speedway
Joe Biden advises local MP Jacqui Rawson In 1982, Delaware senator Joe Biden was attending a political youth meeting in Wilmington where he got chatting to local MP Nick Smith. “He was very encouraging of young people being engaged in politics,” says Nick. Nick was in the US as part of the America Field Scholarship student exchange programme. As part of his studies, Nick attended the political youth meeting where he met senator Biden. Democrat Joe encouraged Nick to get involved in politics and passed on contacts he knew in the Republican caucus which landed Nick a holiday job with the state parliament in Delaware, even though Nick and Joe were supporting different parties. It was that initial exchange that sparked a strong interest in politics for Nick. “The part that stood out for me was his healthy attitude to bipartisanship and looking at the bigger political picture,” says Nick. “Thirty-eight years ago, he was displaying himself as a person who had an appreciation of both sides of politics and an outlook on those things that would unite a country, not divide it.”
Local man makes it out alive Joseph (middle) with rescue volunteers Lee Galvin and Kris Monopoli. Photo: Supplied.
Jo Kent Reporter
jo@waimeaweekly.co.nz
A local 30-year-old man has been rescued after getting lost in the Richmond Ranges and spending three nights out in the open during one of the wettest weeks of the year. Joseph, who wishes to withhold his surname, was last seen at Red Hills Hut on Saturday 31 October and was due to finish his tramp at
Lake Chalice on Wednesday. But when worried relatives didn’t hear from him by Thursday, they raised the alarm which sparked a search and rescue operation, involving police and LandSAR volunteers, in the early hours of Friday morning. Three police search and rescue constables and six Land Search and Rescue volunteers, as well a private helicopter, set off to hunt for signs of life along the alpine route from Red Hills area to Lake
Chalice. A helicopter staff member spotted him, six kilometres from his intended exit route in the Motueka River area – an area that is heavily gorged and bluffed. Senior Constable David Cogger, who led the search, says, “Unfortunately, he didn’t have a personal location beacon or adequate maps with him. He was badly blistered and had cuts on his hands after trying to fight his way out. We extracted him from the river, so he was extremely cold and wet.”
Joseph aided his survival by staying at Hunters Hut for two nights when the weather got treacherous. Due to the conditions, his plan was to turn back early at Inwood Lookout exit point, but he missed the track turning and carried on down the river, crossing it at multiple stages. He’d dumped most of his food at Hunters Hut after he made the decision to go home early, so he
see paGe 2
shade sails made for your space wave shades umbrellas awnings shade sail repairs
Additional copies $1
100% locally owned and operated
www.waimeaweekly.co.nz