This is where my story starts, under the mountain in Taranaki…..

On the 9th of July 1959 I  was born in Stratford general hospital, the youngest of six children and being six years after my sister Heather I must of been a bit of a surprise. Dad writes of my arrival in his story and the word from other siblings is that I was put in a draw and not a bassinet or cot.

I recall learning to ride a pushbike that was too big and taking a tumble over a bank… also the smell of leather as Mum and Dad worked in a what was a  “Saddlers shop”… yeep that’s right making and repairing horse saddles. As this industry slowed I recall bags and other leather goods being more prominant in the shop. I have no memory of school in Stratford so I must of been under five when we moved into the big city of New Plymouth…..

From the country to the sea…. In New Plymouth Mum and Dad worked in a camping ground shop…. lollies and ice creams were big sellers and of course for a young man like myself a constant temptation..

It was in New Plymouth that my older brother and sisters surfed and I longed to be out on the water with them…. I still recall Mum and Dad saying I cannot get a surfboard until I can swim one hundred meters… This was a big incentive but a long way to swim for a little fella….. I do recall achieving the goal but before a surfboard arrived we packed up the car and headed for Christchurch…. It was so bloody cold in Christchurch there was no way I was going to be a surfer…