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  • The Shed

    A COUPLE OF CURSES AND A BLESSING

    Feb 21, 2020 5 minutes
    By Helen Frances
    Photographs: Tracey Grant

    “Bushman’s curse” is John Hickey’s blessing. The Whanganui sheddie makes furniture out of the dreaded supplejack vine that makes parts of the New Zealand bush impenetrable to all but the most determined. John is not only determined; he also actively enjoys his forays into the quiet bush around Kai Iwi where robins and fantails keep him company. He manages to do all of this with one artificial leg, the result of a motor accident in 1996 when he momentarily fell asleep at the wheel.

    He had been working for 15 years in salvage and demolition, then changed to courier driving, which he thought would be a safer occupation.

    “Demolition was such a dangerous job so I thought courier driving would be cushy in comparison. But I was always tired; the body

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