Thirty days hath September, thirty things we remember … (#22 of 30)
When I was 16 and living in Te Marua a family friend offered to give me my first driving lesson. She parked her Morris 1100 across the road from the diary, pointing north, and said 'go'. I drove to the bottom of the Rimutaka Hills - it was a bit hairy as the Kaitoke Road was a series of winds and bends in those days and you had to double the clutch to get her car into second gear. These days the trip takes no time at all, pretty well straight through with passing lanes and sweeping curves. It's a great feat of engineering and makes the trip to visit whanau in the Wairarapa so much easier, but it's just not quite the same as driving on the old road. (Rachel, Learning and Public Programmes Manager)
Stay tuned for our daily stories throughout Wellington’s Heritage Month
2013 - where staff and volunteers share one of their favourite stories
of the Wellington Region.
Thirty days hath September, thirty things we remember … (#18 of 30)
It’s funny to hear these days that the tramp up to Powell Hut (at 1200
metres on Mount Holdsworth, Tararua Ranges), is suited for ‘fitter
trampers’ when as kids, our primary school
had no qualms in marching us all up there on a regular basis! I’m glad
they did though. Despite the harrowing winds and cold nights huddled
together in the historic hut, I have fond memories of our adventures up
there. The most vivid being when approaching the hut with a class-mate
during what could only be described as a blizzard, and upon realising
through the mist how near we were to our destination, we began running
in jubilation along the last snow-cased ridge. Suddenly, my friend in
front was whipped off the side by the wind and thrown down the slope.
His saviour from falling over a hundred metres into trees, was a dinner
fork clasped tightly in his hand (your guess is as good as mine as to
why?), which he somehow dug deeply into the slope. That same fork served
him well later on that night too – to eat our baked beans. (Brent, Public Programmes Developer)
Stay
tuned for our daily stories throughout Wellington’s Heritage Month 2013 -
where staff and volunteers share one of their favourite stories of the
Wellington Region.
By and by, we drove down to Cape Palliser. In a flash, you would think you were cutting through the countrysides of Scotland. But no, in the far off misty air of Wellington's [Wairarapa's) crisp clouds was a lighthouse, brilliant and mystical.
My husband, children and I have come 'full-circle'! We met, got married, and raised our 2 youngest in Porirua, then Plimmerton, before moving over to the Wairarapa, having lived there for almost 15 years before moving back to Wellington in January this year (2013). Our 2 youngest are now adults and we are happy to be back! Wellington is awesome.
