Gerringong’s Gary Poppett has called it a day on his long career with Australia Post, after more than 46 years delivering mail to many of Kiama’s homes and businesses.
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Mr Poppett took a job with Australia Post at Randwick on Australia Day in 1972, where he would deliver the mail on foot, either walking or jogging to get the job done.
The lifestyle it offered is what hooked Mr Poppett on a career in the mail room.
“You were your own boss in the early days, because as long as you got the work done, you could finish and go home,” he said.
“I always started early, I’ve never started later than 6am and usually at 5am at a lot of places. When you could get in and get the job done, you could be finished by 11 or 12 o’clock.”
Throughout his career, Mr Poppett has seen the ebb and flow of traditional mail delivery, however he said the Christmas period was still a busy time.
“Just before the start of this century was when it was at its busiest,” he said.
“In the late ‘90s up until 2007-08, the mail was probably more than what we ever delivered, letter wise it’s gone to half of that now.
“Obviously now we get a lot more parcels with online shopping. When I first started here they had a telegram boy doing the parcels on a motorbike, now there’s contractors doing larger parcels, plus we’re doing it as well, because we do anything up to about two kilograms, like a shoebox size.”
When Mr Poppett moved to the South Coast, he joined the Dapto Post Office, where he delivered mail on a pushbike for a period of time.
He then took on a relief position from Nowra to Warilla, covering other workers’ holidays and sick leave.
For the last 25 years, Mr Poppett has been delivering mail in the Minnamurra and Jones Beach areas.
“What a fantastic place to deliver a run, it never got really hot in summer because you had the sea breeze, and it was just fantastic scenery,” he said.
“Everyday would be a little bit different, you could look out over the ocean up the end of Eureka Avenue or somewhere around Carson Place and look out over the river, it was just a magical place to deliver the mail.”
Together with his wife Janet, Mr Poppett plans to enjoy retirement with “a bit of fishing” and travel to other parts of Australia.
“We bought a motor home and we’re going to do a bit of travelling around the place and see a bit of Australia,” he said.
“We’re just doing little trips to get used to it, then we’re going to try a few more places further afield.”
