Background
“Not all those who wander are lost”
J.R.R. Tolkien
Of mixed European, Te Aupōuri and Ngāi Tahu (Tūāhuriri) descent, I was born and raised in Whangārei. My early formative years were spent living in Portland, a village centred around a large industrial cement works. In those days, the works provided employees with a job for life and a humble, but serviceable, company home. Community was strong and tight-knit. Despite any differences, everyone ‘mucked in’, got along and looked out for each other. The old African adage, “it takes a village to raise a child” seemed appropriate for that time and place, and as children, we were able to enjoy a level of freedom that arguably is no longer possible today. My parents were deeply embedded in both the social fabric and work life of the village. My father, an electrician, was employed by the Portland Cement Works and my mother, previously a nurse, was a stay-at-home mother raising four children while simultaneously volunteering in the community. She taught the kids to read and to swim, mothers to drive, and opened and ran the Portland village Library for the benefit of everyone. In the true spirit of volunteering, at no time did she ever ask for, nor did she receive, any recompense for her work.
Later, my family moved to a rural property on the outskirts of Maungatapere where my mother was able to indulge her passion for gardening. By that time, I was working in Whangārei. However, it wasn’t long before I did what so many others had done before me – I bought an airline ticket, and headed across ‘the ditch’ looking for adventure in the big city of Sydney. Two years later and it was time to head off on the Big OE. Travelling across Asia to reach the UK, I was gainfully employed for the best part of a decade mostly in London, but with extended periods of travel and work in other countries also. I held a variety of jobs, including a stint as nanny to a two-year-old Saudi Arabian prince. Experience was gained in the fields of fashion, retail, computing, property management, law and hospitality in companies ranging from large multinational companies down to small family owned businesses. Time was spent living and working under Sharia Law in Saudi Arabia, Apartheid in South Africa and for a very brief time, living under Martial Law in Taiwan. I can say without hesitation, that we are fortunate to live in a free and democratic country with the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and freedom of passage, and a rule of law that promotes fairness and justice for all. We should never take these rights for granted.
Eventually, the call of home would prove too strong and I returned to New Zealand, settled in Auckland, married and had two children. During those busy child-raising years, I returned to study for six years, worked in design both as a sole practitioner and as a sub-contractor for several companies, ran a small business; whilst simultaneously undertaking extensive voluntary work within the community, notably in environmental restoration and advocacy.
Twenty-five years later, with the children all grown up and forging their own paths, my husband and I decided it was time to sell up in Auckland and head North. For the past seven years, we have lived in beautiful Oakura Bay – a place I have returned to many times since I was a child. We both feel blessed to be able to call Oakura home.