New Zealanders once took pride in being a resilient “do-it-yourself” (DIY) people.

Working city fathers, like mine, would spend much of their weekends working on their houses, gardens, fruit trees or sheds. Farmers would build cottages for shearers, farm managers and elderly relatives without much red tape. They needed to.

People could get on with many DIY things even though this was not a golden age. (Weekend shopping was forbidden.)

To read the article on the NZ Herald website, click here.