Something more about me. Read about my home town of Kaikohe, Northland, New Zealand
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As I was growing up I had the best of all worlds, even though I had no dad. We lived in the biggest city in New Zealand, so I had all the benefits and excitement that is available in a big city, but at the same time I had all the benefits and fun of the country. The suburb of Onehunga was on the south side of Auckland, and just down the road from us was the Manukau Harbour. OK, so when the tide was out it was mostly mud flats there, but it meant that I saw the sea every day, and played down there on the rocks at times. Further around was the Onehunga Wharf which was used by coastal shipping and fishing boats. Across the Mangere Bridge, were market gardens and wide open farmland, along with a volcanic cone which was great for climbing up, sliding down and playing over.

At school holiday time, I spent a lot of weeks staying on a small farm out of Auckland with my cousins. It was not much of a farm, but for a small boy, it was the greatest. Up the back of the farm was a native bush reserve, so us kids became quite adept at finding our way around in the bush without getting lost.

My mum and my uncle that had that farm, owned between them a small cottage at a beach on the Manukau Harbour at Cornwallis. Many weeks of school holidays were also spent there, playing in the sand, around the rocks, swimming, and playing in a small boat.

[Uncle Roy, Auntie Lillian and kids at Cornwallis Beach, with Ford Model A van] I don't have many pictures of those days, but here is my Uncle Roy, Auntie Lillian and 2 of my cousins at Cornwallis Beach. And yes, that is a Ford Model A van. My uncle was the local milkman and delivery person for the beach dwellers and other people in the area.

And that's not all - some of my other uncles had real big dairy farms, so I got to spend some holiday time with them off and on as well.

All small (and not so small) boys like fire engines and trains. Well, a hop, skip, and a jump away from the house was the local railway branch line. The workers trains in the morning were as good as an alarm clock for getting up, and for getting off to school.

Now, where do the Fire Engines come in? In the summer the grass along side the railway was nice and dry, just ready to catch fire from a stray spark from the train's smoke stack, and this happened with satisfying regularity. Whenever there was a grass fire, one or more of us local boys would race up the road to the nearest neighbour with a phone, so he could ring the local Fire Brigade. Then it was back down to watch the fire, and await the arrival of the Fire Engine, which took about 5 minutes.

As I said, the best of all worlds.

Well, that's all for now, come back again, I shall be adding more about me and my family.

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Updated April 21, 2000