For 25 years not rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor snow, okay maybe not snow but you know what I mean, has stopped Mark O'Leary from delivering Berry's post.
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However, the man affectionately known as 'Motor', will today (November 9) pull down the curtains on his delivery efforts.
"It's been a good ride but it's time," the 55-year-old said.
"I've enjoyed it, met some great people, worked with some top people and had some great people work for me.
"But over the past couple of years I got a bit weary of it - the 3.30am rises. I wasn't enjoying it as much - I knew it was time."
When the family sold their home in Berry and downsized, moving to North Nowra, he knew he was "ready for a change".
That change will see him continue a lawn mowing business he started casually 10 years ago, "nothing over the top" but "I'll be able to spend more time with the family."
Delivering the mail was actually his first job out of school.
"I loved it. The sooner you finished the sooner you went home. And if you had a busy day and worked extra you got overtime," he said.
"I thought how good is this?"
He then moved into the hardware game, where he worked for a decade before "seeing an ad for a mail run at Jaspers Brush and South Nowra".
"I applied got it and it just went from there," he said.
"I had a couple of little postie bikes and off I went.
"I had Jaspers Brush and Bolong areas at various other times as well. "
He picked up the Berry run in 2005 and in more recent times that has included up to Berry Mountain.
"I definitely won't miss the 3.30am rises to get out to the centre at South Nowra and sort the mail," he said.
It was actually his first job out of school. I loved it. The sooner you finished the sooner you went home. And if you had a busy day and worked extra you got overtime. I thought how good is this?
- Former Berry postman Mark O'Leary
"And I won't miss Christmas - you used to dread Christmas time, everything just doubled - especially back in the day when Christmas cards were certainly more common. Now it's more parcels.
"The mail has changed completely - when I started doing Berry, the town could get up to 4000-5000 letters a day. Now, it's lucky to get 1000 but parcels have taken its place.
"Berry used to get about 15 parcels a day and now it's got its own parcel contract and some days he has 300 parcels.
"The whole world has changed and Australia Post has changed which was always going to happen - how many letters do you actually send today?
"If you have something urgent now, you send an email or ring someone or text.
"Australia Post has moved more from letters to parcels."
Motor has certainly made an impact and will be missed around Berry, especially by his regulars, which has been demonstrated by the calls and messages the South Coast Register has received this week.
"People don't probably realise what Mark has done for so many people over the years," one customer said.
"He often went above and beyond - the little things, like he knew if people were away and would ensure their parcels were safe. He was just part of our community and will be missed."
Mark said he appreciated the kind words and hoped he had "helped his regulars".
"It's nice that people appreciate what you've done or tried to do," he said.
"I just did things that I thought people would appreciate or know I would appreciate if it was me.
"You might get letters that don't have street numbers on them - I know some others would just send it back if it didn't have a number on it - I've always thought if that was me I'd like it delivered so I tried to go the extra yard to get it delivered.
"It's just as easy to deliver it as it was to return it to sender.
"You do get to know your customers, it's not that much harder, they appreciate it - that extra minute it might take, they are thankful - and that thank you might come in the form of a card or even a beer at Christmas.
It's nice that people appreciate what you've done or tried to do. I just did things that I thought people would appreciate or know I would appreciate if it was me.
- Former Berry postman Mark O'Leary
"I have a saying, 'there's an extra five minutes between a good job and a bad job'."
He says the secret to being a good postie is having a "good memory".
"If you've got a good memory you'll save yourself a lot of buggering around," he said.
"If you can remember someone, where it is on your frame, who that person is, what that number is, you'll save yourself some time. Even just remembering people's names and where they live.
"But you've also got to have a bit of urgency about you - now you only get paid for so much time, so if you get in and get it done and get out of there, it is to your benefit. If you drag your feet there's no overtime at the end of the day.
"It was good living here in Berry and being a local, that was a massive advantage I knew so many people already.
"Having a house here also made it easier - Australia Post gave you no infrastructure it was all up to you. Having the home as a base was great - somewhere to leave your bikes etc or come back too if you had a breakdown.
"It all worked out good - I'd go out and sort the mail, get home, have breakfast with the kids, put them on the bus and then go and do my deliveries."
And how did he cope with the weather?
"There were times it was testing certainly," he said.
"I have a saying. 'skin's waterproof'. A lot of the time if it is heavy rain etc you can just park under a tree or go home until it clears and come out an hour later and it's passed.
Skin's waterproof. A lot of the time if it is heavy rain etc you can just park under a tree or go home until it clears and come out an hour later and it's passed. The cold is the worse.
- Former Berry postman Mark O'Leary
"The cold is the worst - it gets into your hands - rain is annoying as it can destroy the mail but the cold is worse.
"I remember being young and silly out on Hannigans Lane at Bolong on a postie bike one cold morning, far before the sun was up - I was nearly passing out it was that cold - I was thinking 'you are an idiot'."
As for floods he said you "simply couldn't get through".
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"In the old days you were expected to get out there, even in cyclones, but with OHS if there is a severe weather warning now and you don't feel it is safe you don't do it." he said.
As for strange deliveries he says there has "been a few over the years".
"Won't go into too much detail but had a few oddly shaped items now and then," he laughed.
What about the dreaded dogs and other wildlife?
"Surprisingly, dogs were not really an issue, well not now anyway, with the rangers and most people have got their dogs under control," he said.
"However, rural places can be a bit different, when we were riding posties out there, there were a few dogs who liked to chase you each day.
"And I know a lot of people talk about magpies, but I was never really swooped by them either. I don't know if they just ignored me or what?"
He said he has been lucky to have some great staff over the years, many who have become "some of his best mates".
"I will miss the people, the regulars - the job has been good, I've enjoyed it but I will miss the social side of the job, as well the guys out at the sorting room and the people I've worked with," he said.
"My wife Leanne has also been a great support.
"She does all the accounts, banking and paying. Even when she was eight months pregnant with our first child she was out there helping.
"She was a great help and certainly made my life a lot easier."
Michael Jennings from Callala is taking over the run, with Mark's staff remaining.
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