
A wallet missing for 27 years after it was stolen from a vehicle in Hastings in 1997 has been recovered from under the roots of a tree upturned by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Retired Central Hawke鈥檚 Bay farmer Michael Hardy had long forgotten the theft, and the wallet, and says he had to think hard when his daughter rang after learning a contracting crew clearing fallen trees in Hastings鈥� Windsor Park unearthed a wallet apparently belong to an 鈥淢.J. Hardy鈥�.
The big questions to be answered were whether or not that 鈥淢.J. Hardy鈥� was Michael Hardy, of CHB, and had he lost a wallet?
鈥淚 was sure that it had to be another Hardy, as I had no memory of having lost a wallet,鈥� said Hardy.
Later in the day, son聽, remembered a day at the Stortford Lodge Saleyards in Hastings when his father discovered his ute window was smashed and a wallet had been stolen from the glovebox, which had also been forced open.
A Hardy family-photo from a Farmer of the Year win in 2006, with Mike Hardy third from left and son and award-winner Chris second from right. Photo / 九一星空无限
It was only then Hardy remembered what had happened, and he recalled a fruitless search in the grass around the nearby cemetery in the hopes a thief would have discarded the wallet because it did not contain any cash.
鈥淲e found nothing, so we called at the police station and reported the theft, and to this day I have heard nothing,鈥� he said.
He now has the wallet back, including its contents 鈥� a driver鈥檚 licence, 鈥渃ountless鈥� signed receipts, and his life membership with the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust 鈥� all in 鈥減ristine鈥� condition, and cards with expiry dates of 1996 offered a guide as to when it happened.
聽鈥淚t is a time capsule,鈥� he said.
It is, he says, the one and only good thing he鈥檚 heard about what Cyclone Gabrielle has done to Hawke鈥檚 Bay, and he appreciates that the police staff of 2023 have more important things to do than look for a wallet right now.
Colin Pirie, chief executive of Habitat BPM, which contracts to councils on riparian and other work around council reserves and plantings, said his crew found the wallet among the roots of a tree, and when they brought it in at the end of the day, it would normally have been handed over directly to police.
But it had enough identifying details to be referred to friends in the Takapau area.
鈥淭hey knew of him, and thankfully he鈥檚 still around,鈥� Pirie said.
Back out in the country, the phone and other communications were still playing up in the aftermath of the storm, but Hardy still had one message for police.
鈥淚 could tell them to stop looking,鈥� he said.
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