The Beginning

My life began in the early 1950’s when I was born in the town of Masterton, in the central Wairarapa region of New Zealand. My parents had moved there after their marriage, when my father commenced work in the local Magnet Bakery. I have few clear memories of my formative years, though I do recall attending the Harley Street School, in Masterton.

Childhood

After about seven years there, my parents separated and my mother later married again. With her and my step-father I moved from a familiar urban environment, to a rural one. They had taken up a share-milking contract on a farm near Carterton, about 15 kilometres away. A second contract took the family to a similar farm, this time under the Ruahine Ranges at Te Rehunga, near Dannevirke, a town named for the assisted immigrants from Denmark, who settled there in 1872. I enjoyed my childhood farm life and the sense of being close to nature, and when we moved to a sheep and cattle property near Levin, I concluded my primary education there, before finishing up at Horowhenua College.

Career & Moving to Gisborne

One of the strong points of my education was technical drawing, and the newspaper advertisements for Draughting Officers in the 1970’s caught my parents’ attention. Shortly after, I applied for employment with the Lands and Survey Department at Gisborne. This was to be a big move on my part, leaving Levin and moving to Te Waiteata Youth Hostel in Gisborne, but there was some reassurance in that the town was the homeland of my mother’s family, and I came to know many of them while I was there.

Tour Cycling & Tramping

Gisborne provided me with opportunities for self discovery and fresh interests. I became keen on cycle touring and set about riding the inland roads of the East Coast. There were trips to Mahia and Waikaremoana before ultimately, cycling to Opotiki in the Bay of Plenty, around the entire East Cape and back to Gisborne, a distance of around 470 kilometres. These early travels were over gravel and sealed roads, on cycles that had no more than three speed gearing.

Prior to leaving Levin I had joined a tramping club and this interest was rekindled in Gisborne, along now with photography. There were also trout fishing expeditions in the rivers of Mt Hikurangi with hostel and work colleagues, and these trips were indeed memorable ones.

My passion for cycling did not wane however and I decided to try an even longer tour, from Gisborne to Levin, via the Wairarapa. This required more planning as it would be a trip down memory-lane for me.

On departing Gisborne I headed for Napier on the first day, before moving on to Dannevirke and my old home at Te Rehunga. Masterton was of course the following port of call

Reunion with my Biological Father

While there, the idea of meeting with my birth father was suggested to me. After some enquiries I found that he had left Masterton and was living at Porirua, north of Wellington, so I continued my journey, making a slight detour to reunite with him and his wife whom I had not met. I was very fortunate in having a most enjoyable reunion with him, before moving on again to conclude my tour at Levin. Meeting with my father again and visiting the places where I had lived as a child, were the highlights of that tour. Over time they also fuelled a new interest, for I had discovered Genealogy.

Flatting Days

Back at the Lands and Survey Office I completed my cadetship, moving into the Public Service full time. It was there that I met Denise, who was then working on our Map Counter. Prior to this I had left the hostel to try flatting with friends, and being familiar with domestic work I adapted readily to my new environment, enjoying times with different people.

Tibet

Around this time a variety of spiritual matters captured my interest also. I was an avid reader of Lobsang Rampa’s work after first being introduced to his book titled The Third Eye. I later joined the Theosophical Society and still enjoy reading material on Tibet and the wisdom of its people.

Marriage

In the early 1980’s I married Denise and we purchased our first home. Our two sons were born during our tenure of that property, but we were soon tempted into buying an even bigger house. By chance this house turned out to have been the home of my maternal grandparents in the past, but unfortunately, our time in the old house was limited and we had to let it go.

Moving to Hamilton

Since the early days with Lands and Survey I have experienced various periods of government restructuring, in successive departments. I left Gisborne when the Land Office closed there in November 2001, moving to a new position with Land Information NZ (LINZ) in Hamilton.

These Days

My journey continues now with my two sons, along a different route to that of Denise. Our marriage was dissolved in September 2009. I am not doing so much cycling now and have left the Theosophical Society. At LINZ I have recently finished my role as a Property Rights Analyst and have now joined the Survey Technical Support Team. Since arriving in Hamilton I have become more involved in my own genealogical research, and am discovering even more family links.