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Elderly woman reduced to tears by irate postie

<p>Australia Post is investigating an incident of extreme road rage, after a postie reduced an elderly woman to tears. </p> <p>The postman was driving a three-wheeled electric delivery vehicle on the Gold Coast on Monday morning, when an elderly woman almost struck him on a roundabout. </p> <p>The mailman then instructed the woman to pull over, and began berating her until she burst into tears.</p> <p>The altercation was filmed by a passerby, who attempted to intervene to assist the older woman, an 80-year-old named Kay.  </p> <p>“You’re supposed to give way at the roundabout,” the man is heard yelling in footage of the incident aired by <em>Nine News</em>. </p> <p><iframe style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F9NewsGoldCoast%2Fvideos%2F1680294369165021%2F&show_text=false&width=560&t=0" width="560" height="314" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p>“You’re supposed to stop at the roundabout."</p> <p>“Why were you not seeing me?”</p> <p>Bystander Melissa Burrows ran to the aid of Kay, who was visibly upset by the altercation, with Burrows asking the postie to tone down his tirade. </p> <p>“She’s an older lady,” Ms Burrows is heard telling the postie. “She’s scared. Please stop.”</p> <p>“I didn’t see you,” Kay told the postie.</p> <p>Ms Burrows then threatens to call the police on the postie, who responds with a “go away”.</p> <p>“Leave her alone and let her go,” she said.</p> <p>“Can you just slow down next time, please?” the postie asks the elderly woman.</p> <p>“I’m so sorry I didn’t see you,” Kay reaffirms.</p> <p>Speaking to Melissa after the postie drove away, Kay said, “I didn’t even touch him, but I didn’t see him either. I can’t believe how he’s reacted.”</p> <p>Ms Burrows later told the broadcaster the incident was “absolutely horrifying” and a “tirade of incredible abuse”.</p> <p>Australia Post told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/motoring/on-the-road/tirade-of-incredible-abuse-furious-postie-unleashes-on-elderly-gold-coast-driver/news-story/2c9985732e80970951aa73a6f03e1988" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>news.com.au</em></a> an investigation will be conducted reviewing video captured before and after the incident. </p> <p>“Australia Post’s Electric Delivery Vehicles (eDVs) are equipped with on-board telematics which capture video footage and data designed to help keep our people safe on the roads,” a spokesperson said.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Nine News</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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"Be alert": Australia Post's urgent plea to motorists

<p>Australia Post has issued an urgent plea for motorists to look out for their local posties, after shocking new data revealed how many postal workers are injured on the job. </p> <p>The data has revealed that during the 2022-23 financial year, 65 posties were injured as a direct result of third-party traffic accidents, with injuries including everything from broken limbs to concussions.</p> <p>Many of these incidents resulted in hospital stays, extended periods of leave and lasting psychological trauma.</p> <p>Australia Post's General Manager of Safety and Wellbeing, Rod Maule, has said that even one vehicle-related accident is too many, and pleaded for motorists to drive safely at all times.</p> <p>"While we want our team to deliver for all Australians, we also want each of them to safely get home to their families at the end of the day," Mr Maule said.</p> <p>"Safety is our number-one priority, which is why we've invested millions of dollars into advanced technology and training to keep our team safe on the road. But it isn't just up to us," he added. "We are asking all drivers to be alert and keep an eye out for our posties, especially over the next few months as we ramp up deliveries in the lead-up to Christmas."</p> <p>The statement comes in the wake of shocking footage going viral of postal workers being hit by motorists.</p> <p>In an incident last month, a postie is seen riding across an intersection when, seemingly out of nowhere, he's struck by another motorist and knocked from his bike causing an injury to his leg.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Australia Post</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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"I can't help you pal": Postie FIRED after leaving helpless woman

<p dir="ltr">A UK postman has been sacked by the Royal Mail after being caught on camera leaving a 72-year-old woman lying on the ground, telling her, “I can’t help you, pal”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Thomas McCafferty, 51, was filmed on a neighbour’s Ring doorbell delivering a package to Patricia Stewart’s home in Falkirk, Scotland. Unfortunately, while answering the door, Stewart slipped and fell in the icy conditions, and instead of offering assistance, McCafferty told her he was “knackered” because of how long he’d been working in poor weather, and walked away, leaving her on the ground.</p> <p dir="ltr">At the time the incident occurred in February, the Royal Mail apologised for his behaviour and suspended him, but they have now confirmed that he has been sacked. A spokesperson said, “Royal Mail expects the highest standards of behaviour from our people while out on deliveries and collections at all times.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">'I can't help. I'm knackered': Moment Royal Mail postman LEAVES pensioner lying in the snow amid freezing conditions in Falkirk as vulnerable 72-year-old's family blast 'disgusting' footage <a href="https://twitter.com/Iromg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Iromg</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/cristo_radio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cristo_radio</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/THEJamesWhale?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@THEJamesWhale</a> <a href="https://t.co/CoExHFrI06">pic.twitter.com/CoExHFrI06</a></p> — Scott (@scott180142) <a href="https://twitter.com/scott180142/status/1360175909320409093?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2021</a></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“We regularly remind our postmen and postwomen of the important role they play in their local communities. We can confirm that the individual concerned has left the business.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Stewart, who suffers from osteoporosis and injured her head in the fall, said at the time, “I was really upset, the postman had left me there lying on the ground in the snow and ice. You just wouldn't leave anyone like that.</p> <p dir="ltr">“If it hadn't been for the people who helped I would have been lying there for hours. I just can't get over the postman doing that to me. I had a head injury and he just left me, I couldn't believe it.”</p> <p dir="ltr">She explained that she had felt ‘a bit dizzy’, having received her COVID-19 jab the day before, and upon answering the door to Mr McCafferty, fell from the top step to the ground. Fortunately, she was found 20 minutes later by Hermes worker Karolina Domska, who alerted Stewart’s neighbours and her niece. Neighbours called an ambulance because of the bird egg-sized lump on her head.</p> <p dir="ltr">Speaking about the incident, Stewart’s niece Sheryl Harkins said, “you wouldn’t treat a dog like that. He left her really upset and feeling worthless. It is unbelievable.</p> <p dir="ltr">“When I got told about it I thought there was some kind of misunderstanding. I care for my aunt and I visit her four times a day, but she could have been lying there for three hours and caught hypothermia. He could have told someone down the street, all our neighbours are fantastic, they would do anything to help anyone.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It is just really so disgusting, the neighbours would have gone to help but nobody heard her shouting. It was the coldest night in the UK for 26 years and he left my aunt lying on the ground.”</p>

Travel Trouble

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Postie’s heartbreaking find in mailbox

<p>Cruelty charges are expected to be laid on the culprit who viciously shoved a joey into an Australian Post mailbox on the Gold Coast.</p> <p>The RSPCA is on the hunt to find the person responsible while the distressed kanga was sent to wildlife hospital after he was rescued by Queensland fire crew on Friday morning.</p> <p>Both an Aus post employee and fire crew came to the aid of the joey who is believed to have been pushed through the swing ‘door’ parcel opening into a red street mailbox stationed in the suburb of Pimpama.</p> <p>An Australia Post representative said a customer heard noise coming from the mailbox and called the Queensland fire brigade for help.</p> <p>“A customer went to post something in the mailbox and then they have called the fire brigade and they have called us and that’s how we found the joey,” the spokeswoman told NCA NewsWire.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr">Our Pimpama FRS crew was called to a Gold Coast post box this morning after a baby roo was put inside. <br /><br />A quick response from our crew, &amp; Aus Post with the post box keys, meant the joey was out in no time. Pleased to report our furry friend is in the hands of wildlife carers ❤️ <a href="https://t.co/oCZIcvCR1P">pic.twitter.com/oCZIcvCR1P</a></p> — Qld Fire &amp; Emergency (@QldFES) <a href="https://twitter.com/QldFES/status/1327011556039659520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 12, 2020</a></blockquote> <p>“Just as to how the joey ended up there we don’t know.”</p> <p>RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty said they received a call about 6.30 am regarding the little joey being locked in a mailbox.</p> <p>“We had dispatched our wildlife carer van but the fire brigade and someone with keys from Australia Post were there first,” he said.</p> <p>“We will lodge a cruelty complaint and start an investigation.”</p> <p>He asked anyone with information to call their confidential animal cruelty complaints hotline 1300 ANIMAL.</p> <p>“An investigator will see if there is any CCTV footage available in the area,” he said.</p> <p>Queensland Fire and Emergency Services tweeted about their find and said the joey has been placed in safe hands.</p> <p>“Our Pimpama FRS crew was called to a Gold Coast post box this morning after a baby roo was put inside,” they tweeted.</p> <p>“A quick response from our crew, &amp; Aust Post with the post box keys, meant the joey was out in no time. Pleased to report our furry friend is in the hands of wildlife carers.”</p> <p>They joey was taken to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary Wildlife Hospital on the Gold Coast.</p>

Family & Pets

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Australia Post comes under fire: Delivery drivers slammed by residents for being “lazy”

<p>Australia Post delivery drivers have been slammed by angry customers claiming posties have been displaying bad behaviour by not delivering packages to their doors.</p> <p>Many customers all over Australia are upset drivers are leaving “sorry we missed you” cards at their doors without bothering to knock on the door or check if someone is home.</p> <p>These drivers have been accused of failing to do their jobs properly, and those upset by the service have taken to online forum Reddit to vent their frustrations.</p> <p>Instead of drivers ensuring no-one is home to deliver the items, red cards have been left in customers' mailboxes telling them to collect their packages themselves, Aussies all over the country have claimed.</p> <p>One upset client shared a screenshot to Reddit on Tuesday of a text messaging chain between them and the Australia Post customer service team.</p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7826452/post-screenshot.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/87f557ee217f4d72b89f7400078ab1e5" /></p> <p>The customer’s response was timestamped one minute after the original text message was sent, but the sender informed them the driver had already been to their home and it was too late – within the timespan of just one minute.</p> <p>The post sparked an angry online storm of people all over the country complaining the same treatment had been given to them by “lazy” posties failing to deliver their packages.</p> <p>Over 400 comments identifying the poster’s text screenshot told their own stories.</p> <p>“Happened to me too,” one disgruntled customer wrote.</p> <p>“Was sitting in the garden with my toddler and saw the van pull up. By the time I'd got up and walked to my gate, he'd left the slip and driven off. Was furious.”</p> <p>Another comment read: “I saw the guy drive up to my driveway, sit in his car, and then put the slip in the mailbox. He sheepishly told me that he couldn't do anything because he already marked it as 'couldn't be delivered'.</p> <p>“Forcing him to stick around and calling up AusPost a few minutes later, I had my parcel.”</p> <p>A similar story came from another customer who said it happened to them four times.</p> <p>“I’ve submitted an online complain to Auspost and also called. The most ridiculous thing that they even have a term for this – ‘carding’.. and the guy on the phone was super casual about it,” they wrote.</p> <p>“Casually not even a follow up call/email on any of my complaints, no apologies whatsoever.”</p> <p>An Australian Post spokesperson told Yahoo News most posties do the right thing when delivering their parcels.</p> <p>“Our posties and drivers must knock at the door three times and call out before leaving a card or safe-dropping the parcel, and the majority of our parcels are delivered without a problem.</p> <p>“We do sometimes receive complaints from customers who received a card instead of a parcel and if this has happened we ask people get in contact so we can investigate.</p> <p>“Sometimes our people may leave a card without knocking because of access or safety issues – such as an off-leash dog – and this might happen when a customer is home.</p> <p>“We regularly remind our drivers of our policies and what we expect of them to ensure our customers receive a great service.”</p>

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Postie leaves ‘warning messages’ on letters

<p>An Australian Post worker has sparked a debate online after leaving a series of “warning messages” on letters to a Melbourne homeowner. <br /><br />“Please clean the area in front of your letterbox,” the first letter read to homeowner Johnson Ong, who posted the photos to the Australia Post Complaints Facebook group.   <br /><br />A second letter read: “You need to clean the area in front of the letterbox. Not a small part. I have to ride through. There are rocks. All the front yard.” <br /><br />A third envelope came with an ultimatum: “Good morning. I won’t be delivering anymore if front of yard is not clear 1m in front and 1m side of letterbox. Thank you.” <br /><br />“Please last notice. Clean the area in front of letterbox,” a final letter said.</p> <p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/c09b480e7eec9e34fd7f2ffc22f91791" alt="He began receiving these “warning messages”. Picture: Johnson Ong/Facebook" width="650" height="366" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/5a185d573bbf534fa8784ba243247117" alt="He said his garden had looked the same for 12 years. Picture: Johnson Ong/Facebook" width="650" height="366" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/a4dea230cdbfb1d58a7f17312dddcb5e" alt="The postie threatened to stop delivering his mail. Picture: Johnson Ong/Facebook" width="650" height="366" /></p> <p><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/81c71eb3a2ff5656bfc5097355e76180" alt="Many on Facebook supported the postie’s actions. Picture: Johnson Ong/Facebook" width="650" height="366" /><br /><br />Mr Ong wrote on Facebook that his garden had not changed in the past 12 years and the “warning messages” had only started within the past month. <br /><br />He agreed safety was “definitely very important”, adding: “Riding over nature strips in wet weather is not safe as it could be slippery, mud can get into his wheels, spreading to neighbours’ driveways. Encouraging all riders or drivers to use [the] driveway is the safest for themselves and others.”</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/4f581346cf6febb7aecb55be575c9b67" alt="The offending mailbox — is this too hard to get to? Picture: Johnson Ong/Facebook" width="650" height="366" /><em>Johnson Ong's front garden and mailbox. </em></p> <p>Mr Ong contacted Australia Post, but the representatives sided with the postie. <br /><br />“Looking at the photo of your mailbox, the area around it is not clear,” a customer service representative wrote. <br /><br />“I apologise if you think the driver is threatening you, however they are entitled to ride across nature strips. This is to ensure safe, accurate and fast deliveries.” <br /><br />“I would recommend cleaning the front area and removing the shrubs that are obstructing the mailbox,” the rep advised. <br /><br />An Australia Post spokesman said: “We have apologised to the customer and are working with them to improve access to their letterbox. We’re glad that in this case we have been able to reach a satisfactory outcome. <br /><br />“Posties are allowed to ride on the nature strip while delivering mail and for their own safety, require easy and safe access to letterboxes. We encourage them to report any access hazards to their manager who then works with the customer to fix the issue.” <br /><br />Social media users were split on the issue, with many defending the postie’s messages and others believing the homeowner is in the right. <br /><br />“You want your mail delivered, make sure it is a safe place for the postie,” wrote one person. “After all it is his workplace and he deserves safety!” <br /><br />Another user described the garden as “atrocious” but others were quick to decry the criticism. <br /><br />“It’s hardly atrocious, it’s a bit of fallen leaves,” another replied. “My kid could ride his tricycle safely over that, is your postie that frail?” <br /><br />One said, “If he can’t find the letterbox he should hand in his licence or go to Specsavers.” <br /><br />However, one user pointed out that “you can be sued if the postie gets injured and you didn’t do anything to resolve the issue”. “At least the postie gave you some chance to fix it,” they wrote.</p>

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Outrage as cop fines Australia Post postie for riding bike on footpath

<p>A policeman has fined an Australia Post postman for riding his motorbike on the footpath, a move that has been slammed as “absolutely ridiculous”.</p> <p>Mick Jackson was delivering mail in Mannering Park, on the New South Wales Central Coast, last December when the officer booked him $330 for the offence of “drive on footpath”.</p> <p>“I just told him straight out: ‘If I can't ride on the footpath, I can't do my job,’” Mr Jackson said.</p> <p>The cop even followed Jackson back to his post office and fined him a second time for parking his bike on the footpath outside. </p> <p>Mr Jackson warned that the police officer's actions could “affect all posties”. </p> <p>“Australia Post has been around for a long time and they ride on the footpath, unfortunately,” he said. </p> <p>“What choice do you have? The letterbox ain't on the on the side of the road like they are overseas, so you just don't have a choice.”</p> <p><img width="413" height="547" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/26/01/4D9ABA6600000578-5881747-A_police_officer_fined_postman_Michael_Jackson_for_riding_his_mo-a-1_1529972376803.jpg" alt="A police officer fined postman Michael Jackson for riding his motorbike on the footpath - in a move slammed as 'absolutely ridiculous'" class="blkBorder img-share b-loaded" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" id="i-6f153a539a085165"/></p> <p>Daily Mail Australia understands the cop issued the fine because neither the contractor or post office provided the officer with formal identification.  </p> <p>However, Mr Jackson was riding a traditional Australia Post red motorbike, wearing his regulation hi-vis and carrying mail and parcels at the time. </p> <p>Mannering Park post office licensee Kristina Budden also added the office did not have identity cards for its delivery men. </p> <p>“The bike was loaded with mail, you'd think that'd be enough,” she said. </p> <p>Mr Jackson took the matter to court and the offences of 'drive on footpath' and 'stop on path/in built up area' were dismissed by Magistrate Peter Feather last Monday.</p> <p>“It was a win for common sense,” said his solicitor, Doug Eaton from Effective Legal Solutions. </p> <p>An Australia Post spokesman said contractors and employees have the same right to drive on the footpath. </p> <p> </p>

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A day in the life of an outback postie

<p><strong><em>Travel writer Christina Pfeiffer joins a postie who doubles as a tour guide during her visit to the heart of South Australia.</em></strong></p> <p>I'm bouncing along a dusty road in a four-wheel-drive mail truck with outback postman Peter Rowe. The mailbags in the back are bulging with letters and parcels addressed to residents of the remote outback stations and towns we are about to visit.</p> <p>Twice a week, Rowe and his son, Derek, take turns to drive the 644-kilometre round trip and fortunately, more often than not, their truck is filled with adventurous tourists eager to experience a day in the outback with a postman.</p> <p>The tour starts from the multicultural opal mining community of Coober Pedy. Rowe arrived in town more than 30 years ago to dig for opals and his mail-run commentary is peppered with memories about the good old days.</p> <p>As we drive off, he points out rocky ridges at the edge of town that conceal sprawling underground mansions.</p> <p>"Some of these underground homes are really posh; they have swimming pools, gyms, solid gold fittings in the bathrooms and there's one with ensuite bathrooms attached to every bedroom," he says.</p> <p>Just out of Coober Pedy, the countryside is desolate and sunburnt. We stop at a section of the longest fence in the world, the 5300-kilometre dingo fence. It was built to keep dingoes out of sheep-farming country and each section is maintained by a different contractor.</p> <p>Further along the dirt highway, we leave a cloud of dust in our wake as the truck's wheels spin through the Moon Plains. Rowe tells us the rocky landscape abounds with 120-million-year-old marine fossils, remnants from a time when this brown, barren area was at the bottom of a freezing polar ocean.</p> <p>This stark landscape has captured the imagination of filmmakers and the Moon Plains featured in movies such as Red Planet and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.</p> <p>Adding to the other-worldly ambience are abandoned movie props, such as a huge alien spaceship which sits in front of the Opal Cave underground complex.</p> <p>Every few kilometres we pass floodway warning signs that look completely out of place along dry, dusty roads. Incongruous they may be but these signs are not to be ignored – rain falling 20 kilometres away can turn dry creek beds into torrents.</p> <p>Regular rainfall is uncommon but when it rains the wildflowers go berserk. Once every few years the desert transforms into a colourful kaleidoscope of blooming flora.</p> <p>Our first mail stop is Mount Barry Station, where the lean cattle are some of the healthiest animals in Australia.</p> <p>These cattle walk 10 kilometres a day, nibbling on nutritious saltbush while searching for water.</p> <p>By comparison, cattle on the east coast require up to four times the amount of feed in order to receive the same nutrition, thus building up more fat.</p> <p>At another station we're met by a young woman who presents Rowe with a Bundaberg rum bottle filled with mum's home-made tomato sauce.</p> <p>As we approach the entrance to a third station we avoid 25 kilometres of dirt road to the station homestead by sliding a large parcel under a cattle grid near the entrance.</p> <p>As the day passes, the desert reveals russet landscapes highlighted by narrow carpets of green and creeks with eccentric names such as Giddi Giddinna.</p> <p>Eagles swoop to seize scurrying marsupials, emus run across the desert while sulphur-crested cockatoos soar above us.</p> <p>After stopping at several stations, the bulk of the mail is unloaded at the Oodnadatta Post Office and Pink Roadhouse, a legendary outback stop in a town with a population of less than 200.</p> <p>But even in a small town in the middle of the outback there's a good chance of bumping into an interesting character or two, such as proprietor Lynnie Plate.</p> <p>Plate and her husband walked from Alice Springs to Oodnadatta in 1975 – accompanied by a few camels, horses and donkeys – and have lived here ever since.</p> <p>But fame in the outback comes at a price. "I went for a holiday to Melbourne recently. It was so nice to sit in a cafe without being recognised," she sighs.</p> <p>We move on to William Creek. Browns, yellows, lime greens and yellow flowering darling lilies blur past. At Algebuckina Creek, we stop to look at the decommissioned iron railway bridge once used by the old Ghan Railway.</p> <p>Ruins of railway huts, sidings and telegraph stations from the old Ghan are sprinkled across the desert. At Edwards Creek you can see the remains of the ticket office, waiting room and stationmaster's house.</p> <p>William Creek, Australia's smallest town, sits within the world's largest working cattle station, the 34,000-square-kilometre Anna Creek Station.</p> <p>At last count, the town had a population of 10, a ramshackle pub, a few weatherboard houses, a dusty nine-hole golf course and the Dingo Cafe.</p> <p>The walls and ceilings of the William Creek Hotel – the only watering hole for 160 kilometres – are plastered with business cards, bank notes, old caps, bras and T-shirts left behind by travellers. Before I leave, I pin my own business card to the wall, wondering whether it will be there the next time I visit.</p> <p>Have you visited outback South Australia before? Share your experience with us in the comments below.</p> <p><em>Written by Christina Pfeiffer. First appeared on <a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span></strong></a>.</em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.com.au/travel/domestic-travel/2016/06/8-outback-destinations-every-aussie-should-visit/"></a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international/2016/08/10-free-things-to-do-in-darwin/">10 free things to do in Darwin</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international/2016/04/driving-the-spectacular-stuart-highway/">Driving the spectacular Stuart Highway</a></strong></em></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/international/2016/11/the-strangest-town-in-australia/">This might be the strangest town in Australia</a></strong></em></span></p>

International Travel

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Great-grandmother retires after 40 years as local postie

<p>As the local postie, grandmother Shirley Little represents the heart of her community. Now, after a lifetime of loyalty, her service is coming to a close.</p> <p>For 40 years, five days a week, Little delivered the post in Tarpeena, a small South Australian town with only 350 residents.</p> <p>"We do about 11 kilometres a day, through rain, hail, shine and magpie swoopings," she said.</p> <p>Unfortunately, with the rise in technology use, post offices in small towns are often no longer financially viable establishments.</p> <p>In regard to this post office decline, Little said, "I think the generations coming through, they won't even know that it did exist at some stage.”</p> <p>"A lot of the communication with the community won't be here and that would be sad."</p> <p>As this chapter of her life comes to a close, Little is handing over the business to a local man, and hopes to utilise her free time wisely:</p> <p>"I hope to watch Wimbledon," she said. "Not on replay, live as it happens."</p> <p><em>Photo source: Danielle Grindlay</em></p> <p><strong> Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="/news/news/2015/07/wizard-of-oz-ruby-slipper-reward/">Wizard of Oz super-fan offers $US1 million for safe return of Dorothy’s slippers</a></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="/news/news/2015/07/world-health-problems/">More than 95% of the world’s population has health problems</a></em></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><em><a href="/news/news/2015/07/letter-from-doggie-heaven/"> 3-year-old boy receives letter from beagle in “doggie heaven” thanks to kind postman</a></em></strong></span></p>

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