Sweets and other discoveries

Thirty days hath September, thirty things we remember … (#25 of 30)

On Saturday evenings Dad took us out in our 1953 Ford Prefect always to the dairy on Constable Street in Newtown, to buy the Saturday Evening Post. Rob and I were given three pence to spend on sweets and all the way there we would debate what our purchase would be - 6 spearment leaves of 6 oddfellows, perhaps 3 of each, or a hokey pokey bar or 6 milk bottles. At home we tried to make our sweets last as long as possible while we read the centre pages of the paper with Ripley's Believe It Or Not! column and Jeeves and Neville Lodge among the cartoon strips. [I] fondly remembered fun and simple pleasures in our lovely home city of Wellington where I especially loved going up and down our hilly streets and discovering new and interesting places. (Judy, Visitor Services Host)

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.

Warriors of the forest

Thirty days hath September, thirty things we remember … (#24 of 30)

When I was younger, i spent a lot of time living in Kelburn with my cousin who was of a similar age. The best part about living there was living by the gardens. We made a secret hiding spot behind the duck pond gazebo, where we pretended to be warriors of the forest. Every time I go back for a walk, I remember all the wonderful characters and adventures we went on from childhood. (Pippa, Publicist)

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.

The perfect spot around the bays

Thirty days hath September, thirty things we remember … (#23 of 30)

During the summer I used to love going snorkeling with my dad and sister. We would check the tides and the weather before heading out around the bays in Wellington and picking the perfect spot to jump in. It was always hilarious when we went over deep water or water with lots of seaweed because my sister hated it and would panic a little bit. I even got to see a stingray up close when it swam under me. Driving around the bays was always one of my favourite parts of summer. (Sarah, Visitor Services Host)

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.

Driving the old road

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.

A Humpback lesson?

Thirty days hath September, thirty things we remember … (#21 of 30)

One day when I was walking along Oriental Bar, I was amazed to see a humpback whale (I think) swimming out in the harbour. It was such an unusual sight that it got me thinking of why Europeans first came to this area which was to set up whaling stations on Kapiti and over at Port Underwood. Then the waters must have been thick with these magnificent creatures. So while it was great and grounding to see this connection with history, as I am a historian and these things interest me, I was rather sad that there are now so few of them that sighting one is an extremely rare event. A lesson to be learned? (Paul, Deputy Director)

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.

Thunder and lightning ... and snow!

 

Thirty days hath September, thirty things we remember … (#19 of 30)

The building across the road just it up with lightning and I counted 4 'Mississippis' before the loud thunder rolled over the Museum. It's bucketing down. We hardly ever have storms like this in Wellington. Maybe I won't bicycle [sic] home ... although I loved riding my motorbike in the 2011 snow storm. (Kim, Marketing 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.

Our carved guardian

When we moved to Wellington this year, we left our three children (now young adults) behind in Christchurch. One day I was walking in our suburb of Brooklyn, along the ridgeway and discovered Kawakawa Reserve off Quebec St, which overlooks the South Coast, back up North. There is an amazing carving there - by a local writer, which has a great number of faces which look in all directions. I felt this was my family's guardian looking back home south and back up north to where we are. It was a powerful and comforting image.

Gone are the days of the ginormous cheese

Thirty days hath September, thirty things we remember … (#20 of 30)

Growing up, whenever we drove past Lindale Farm in Kapiti we HAD to stop and get an ice-cream from the Kapiti Cheese shop and play on the ginormous cheese. Now as adults whenever we drive past and see Lindale Village all empty we feel sad. (Bridget, Experience Services Coordinator)

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.

Milk in the way!

 

I had a driving test on Buller St. I had to do a hill start and a three-point turn. It was 1972. The milk truck was blocking the street and I had to signal and go around it first. I passed my test.

Fork of the day

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.