Audio Interview: Val Wahren - 70 Years in Owhiro Bay (12/01/23)
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Val Wahren is a very young 92 years of age in March 2023. For the last 70 years, she has been living in the same lovely home that faces the south coast vista of Cook Strait on Ōwhiro Bay Parade.
I had the privilege of interviewing Val this evening, with her daughter Marie, reminiscing about 70 years of living as an Ōwhiro Bay coastee. Val is a wonderful interviewee with some magical stories to tell. Enjoy them below :) |
Audio Interview: Maureen Hocking - Growing Up in Happy Valley (1999)
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Want to know what life was like in Happy Valley pre-World War 2? Want to hear an audio interview with someone who lived it from birth?
Hi Everyone, Justin Meade here, creator and manager of this Ōwhiro Bay website. This is a very, very special audio interview upload for me (below, in 2 parts). Maureen Hocking was my beloved aunty, who passed away in 2008. She lived most of her life at 115 Happy Valley Road. In fact, 3 generations of my family - going right back to my grandmother - lived at 115 Happy Valley Road. |
To know Maureen Hocking was to know the life and soul of every party (as she was at the many she held at 115 when I was growing up); a bright, vivacious woman, full of love and laughter.
Before Aunty Mork (as we all called her) passed away at a ripe old age in 2000, she was interviewed by Ann Barrie (who still lives in Ōwhiro Bay!) as part of the National Library's Ōwhiro Bay Oral History Project. Maureen's interview below is FASCINATING. She is a unique and gifted story-teller.
I've been working for over 12 months to get a copy of this interview for our website. Today, after all the red tape palaver, I received it for use on this site. Both parts are here below. It's just wonderful. Enjoy.
Before Aunty Mork (as we all called her) passed away at a ripe old age in 2000, she was interviewed by Ann Barrie (who still lives in Ōwhiro Bay!) as part of the National Library's Ōwhiro Bay Oral History Project. Maureen's interview below is FASCINATING. She is a unique and gifted story-teller.
I've been working for over 12 months to get a copy of this interview for our website. Today, after all the red tape palaver, I received it for use on this site. Both parts are here below. It's just wonderful. Enjoy.
Interview Part: 1
Interview Part: 2
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Introducing: Chris Loveday
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I have lived in Ōwhiro Bay with my wife and two children for a relatively short period (since 2018), but a lot has happened in that time.
Our house was damaged during the sea swell in April 2020 and while never choosing to experience an event like that it created a connection in the community that runs deep. Ōwhiro Bay heroes came to our rescue that day and we have created amazing friendships from the event. |
The community is engaged and makes for a fun and enjoyable place to live - even when the southerly is bearing down.
You will often find me hiking on the trails in Te Kopahou reserve, playing on the beach with the kids, or invariably chatting with a neighbour somewhere along the parade.
You will often find me hiking on the trails in Te Kopahou reserve, playing on the beach with the kids, or invariably chatting with a neighbour somewhere along the parade.
Introducing: Eugene Doyle
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Eugene has lived in Ōwhiro Bay since 2010. He is part of the team that challenges Wellington Water, WCC and Greater Wellington to address ongoing contamination of the Ōwhiro Stream and Tapu Teranga Marine Reserve.
His areas of focus within OBRA are coastal resilience, water quality and conservation. As well as being a member of the residents association he is the member of a number of groups within the community, including the Ōwhiro Catchment Collective and Places for Penguins. |
He is one of our representatives on the Multiparty Working Group on Owhiro and was the community representative on both the 2020 Mayoral Taskforce and Serious Wave Review Panel.
"As we know, living on the sea is not without its challenges … but there’s nowhere in the world I’d rather be.
I love sitting up on the hill above our house, having a coffee and soaking it all in. I love living in a community where a walk along the coast is a social event.
As we know, our community faces an unusually large number of issues and challenges but I’ve loved seeing us turn into a community of activists, and seeing us turn out in large numbers when people need help, stoats and weasels need trapping, or sausages need sizzling.
Through all this, we’ve built much better links between us but also connected with all sorts of people and organisations around the region. I like hearing the sea at night, I love living on a marine reserve. I want to feel safe swimming in the whole Bay."
"As we know, living on the sea is not without its challenges … but there’s nowhere in the world I’d rather be.
I love sitting up on the hill above our house, having a coffee and soaking it all in. I love living in a community where a walk along the coast is a social event.
As we know, our community faces an unusually large number of issues and challenges but I’ve loved seeing us turn into a community of activists, and seeing us turn out in large numbers when people need help, stoats and weasels need trapping, or sausages need sizzling.
Through all this, we’ve built much better links between us but also connected with all sorts of people and organisations around the region. I like hearing the sea at night, I love living on a marine reserve. I want to feel safe swimming in the whole Bay."
Introducing: Ali Forrest
Ali has lived in Ōwhiro Bay for 28 years, in two different houses, and is very attached to the Bay.
She was here while the quarry was operating and sewage was being discharged into the sea and has seen a few changes.
As a member of the residents association committee she is particularly involved with issues around the Landfill, and has been active in the last couple of years in stopping the burial there of sewage sludge and challenging WCC over its proposed extension of the landfill.
In the same vein she is also concerned with Wellington's zero waste target - reuse and recycling - and other possibilities for the reuse of sewage.
She was here while the quarry was operating and sewage was being discharged into the sea and has seen a few changes.
As a member of the residents association committee she is particularly involved with issues around the Landfill, and has been active in the last couple of years in stopping the burial there of sewage sludge and challenging WCC over its proposed extension of the landfill.
In the same vein she is also concerned with Wellington's zero waste target - reuse and recycling - and other possibilities for the reuse of sewage.
Introducing: Aino Krumins - Audio Interview
Today I interviewed a very special Owhiro Bay resident. This person has childhood resonance for me, but until a week ago, I had no idea she lived in the Bay. She has lived here for 51 years!
Aino Krumins is 84 years-old. She was a school teacher at South Wellington Intermediate for 13 years. She was very beloved by countless students over the years. Certainly by me.
'Mrs Krumins' was my favourite teacher ever. When I was 11, she was my form 2 form teacher. That was the year my mother died and Mrs Krumins (still hard to call her Aino) was a tower of strength to me.
It was a privilege to interview Aino today. She is as sharp as ever, and can still speak 4 languages. We were joined by Aino's neighbour of 13 years, Alison Forrest.
The audio interview is below. Just below that is my class photo from when I was 11. I'm sporting one of Mum's literal bowl cuts (a couple of months before she died), 3rd from the left in the 2nd to top row. And Mrs Krumins is there, just exactly as I remember her.
Enjoy the interview.
Aino Krumins is 84 years-old. She was a school teacher at South Wellington Intermediate for 13 years. She was very beloved by countless students over the years. Certainly by me.
'Mrs Krumins' was my favourite teacher ever. When I was 11, she was my form 2 form teacher. That was the year my mother died and Mrs Krumins (still hard to call her Aino) was a tower of strength to me.
It was a privilege to interview Aino today. She is as sharp as ever, and can still speak 4 languages. We were joined by Aino's neighbour of 13 years, Alison Forrest.
The audio interview is below. Just below that is my class photo from when I was 11. I'm sporting one of Mum's literal bowl cuts (a couple of months before she died), 3rd from the left in the 2nd to top row. And Mrs Krumins is there, just exactly as I remember her.
Enjoy the interview.
Audio Interview with Aino Krumins
Introducing: Ann Barrie
I moved to 156 Ōwhiro Bay Parade in February 1976 not longer after I turned 29, I’d fallen in love with Bill Barrie who’d recently bought a cottage here as a bachelor pad.
We married, had two children and turned the cottage into a substantial two-storied house. Bill died in October 2015. I've seen many changes over the years and enjoyed the wild beauty of this Bay.
I plan, a little reluctantly, to put my house on the market in January in order to downsize. I hope another family will live here and enjoy the house as the Barries have done.
We married, had two children and turned the cottage into a substantial two-storied house. Bill died in October 2015. I've seen many changes over the years and enjoyed the wild beauty of this Bay.
I plan, a little reluctantly, to put my house on the market in January in order to downsize. I hope another family will live here and enjoy the house as the Barries have done.
Introducing: Debbie Rawson
My partner Graham Hanify and I have been living here since 1978 when we bought our house for a song. No one wanted to live at Ōwhiro in those days and the property had been on the market for months.
We fell in love with the house and the Bay instantly and have no Intention of leaving ever. The wild unspoilt nature of the coast, the proximity of the beach, the ocean, and the city are reasons for our deep love of the place.
When we first came here there was little sense of community. The vibrant and supportive community that we now enjoy, came as a bonus. Each new resident (and some wild natural catastrophes) have contributed one way or another to form a rich community fabric. This is another standout reason for our love of the Bay.
We fell in love with the house and the Bay instantly and have no Intention of leaving ever. The wild unspoilt nature of the coast, the proximity of the beach, the ocean, and the city are reasons for our deep love of the place.
When we first came here there was little sense of community. The vibrant and supportive community that we now enjoy, came as a bonus. Each new resident (and some wild natural catastrophes) have contributed one way or another to form a rich community fabric. This is another standout reason for our love of the Bay.
