The last 7 months and 12 days of 1995... in Documenting 26 years on Waiheke Island

....it was my friend Barbara who encouraged me to go ahead with the Waiheke move when my interest was waning. Barbara later regretted not moving here too, and she ended up in Turoa near Thames. So I quit my job and signed on the dotted line.

Moving day, the 19th May, and my friends had helped load up the truck the previous evening, and Erana and I drove to the vehicle ferry, and then once on the island, to Rocky Bay. We arrived to find the house locked and we didn’t have a key, so we broke a window to get in. I remember I gave Erana $100 for the day.
No phone, and it was a long time before it was connected.
And then another long gap with no power or phone after a storm.
I wrote a poem which was published in Gulf News.

I went to Al Anon, mainly to meet some people.
The winter was quite tough with frequent storms, but by spring I had connected with a social group, which is where I met Polz. We had shared lunches at each other’s homes, and it felt good to finally know a few more people on the island.
In October I had a one night fling with Reapi who was quite partial to a drink or two, and lived in Blackpool. Reapi just turned up one evening and wanted to bunk down with me! I was thinking Waiheke is a pretty cool place to live!
And as summer came around I discovered Nudie Beach, or Little Palm Beach.
About this time, my friend Alishia was coming over on weekends. I used to work with her at Farmers, in Credit Control. She was heaps younger than me and a great artist and was crazy about space ships!
Anyway we had fun which included painting our bodies, well mine mainly!
I sometimes went down to Whakanewha every day and collected rubbish and anything else of interest. Then I created a display, hanging the objects from the ceiling!
I met my neighbours on the high side. Jane was pregnant with Tom who now is the young man I support when he comes over from Auckland.
Christmas was at Pam’s in Ostend, and I remember walking home 4 kms in the middle of the night from her place. That was either Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve, can’t remember.

Last updated January 26, 2022