When I was 8 I came to NZ with my family. Dad had got an international assignment with work and was transferred to Wellington. We were only meant to be here for 2 and a half years but other projects came along and we ended up staying for 8 years. When I was 15 we applied for citizenship and were successful in gaining NZ/Kiwi passports. I remember lots of special things about growing up in Belmont and Kelson. My brother and I cycled to school every day across the Kennedy Good Bridge and up the hill on the way home. Dad took us to many a cold rainy match at Athletic Park where our seats were generally on the roof! We came to see at least 2 Nissan Mobil 500's too. 19 years later, my wife and I have emigrated back to Wellington and started a new life in the place I call home.
Thirty days hath September, thirty things we remember ... (#4 of 30)
One of my favourite places in Wellington is the Belmont Magazines in Belmont Regional Park. They command fantastic views to the Hutt, Wellington Harbour and city and over to Porirua (in fine weather). Apparently the magazines now mainly house sheep (or so the evidence suggests) but were built as ammunition storage during WW2, and apparently were meant to look like a chicken farm from the air (just in case there were any enemy aircraft). I'm not sure 60 bunkers with huge amounts of earthworks spread out over the landscape would have made me think of chickens, but then I'm not a trained pilot. (Tamsin, Development Project Manager).
Stay tuned for our daily memory posts throughout Wellington's Heritage Month 2013 - where staff and volunteers share one of their favourite stories of the Wellington Region.
