Audrey's childhood in Kerikeri
(Chap.4)

• I. Wakefield Primary School.
• II. A few anecdotes
• III. School Picnics and Garden Parties
• IV. Paihia and the Cream Trip
• V. The Country Women's Institute
• VI.The end of WW2
• VII. David's Dastardly Deed and the finish of Wakefield School

Keri Keri had a primary school up the hill past the Old Stone Store but Dad would not send David and me to it, because he didn’t want us to associate with many of the local children. He must have come off this stance in later years because I had a year there, in 1949, with the never to be forgotten Mr Strumple as my teacher, but Julia attended the school a few more years than I did.

Instead of sending us to the Keri School for our initial schooling, we were sent to a small one roomed classroom in a house at the back of the village. The entrance, to the school was to the right of Blackie’s first garage and the school was at the end of a long driveway, with gumtrees on the left and paddocks on the right. Julia was to follow us, to this school, a while later.

This little school, called Wakefield School was a private school run by a teacher called Miss De Renzie. She was a large lady in her mid forties and she certainly tried to instil lots of discipline into our lives, with the help of a large bamboo cane. At the back of the classroom was a small kitchen and in the winter she would light up an old pot belly stove, and heat a large pot full of cocoa for us. Somehow cocoa has never tasted as good as those cups she made.

We were called Tiny Tots when we started school and then graduated into Primer 1, 2,3,4, before going up into Standard 1 etc. Usually it took two years to reach Standard one. I think there were about fifteen pupils at all stages of the primers. I do remember Rae Emanuel; Evelyn Emanuel, Mary Knowles; Gillian and Margaret Haste, Deirdre and Noel Dwan, Robin and Webber Booth, the Cooper girls, Robin and Bridget, and Ann Cooksey. I believe that Mary, Rae and the Booth boys are the only ones who still live in Keri Keri.

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This must have been first time we had any sort religious instruction because David and I cannot remember attending any Sunday school but Julia did attend, when little, and in her teens she taught Sunday school at the Methodist Church. Mum attended St James church, now and again, but Dad wouldn’t ‘darken the doorway’ as they say. The religious stories we were told at Wakefield, must have hit home because Mum wrote down a few anecdotes, at this time, and I will now quote some of them.

Did we have any sex education? Certainly not! Not from either teachers or parents. We did see the lambs being born on the Riddell property and Polly and Sally had calves every year so I guess we did pick up on something as this next anecdote will show.

Miss De Renzie instilled good reading and writing skills into us although I disagreed with her one day. In spelling, she taught us that the ‘ch’ in the word church, is pronounced 'sh', for the want of the nearest explanation for this next anecdote. The education department put out a very good magazine called The School Journal. (I still have a copy with one of Mum’s stories published in it .We were very proud, of her, when that happened.) Miss De Renzie asked me to read aloud a portion of a story about, King Henry to the class. The article mentioned his stomach. I knew ‘ch’ was not pronounced ‘k’, just because Miss De Renzie had told me, and I stuck to my guns when she tried to tell me anything different! She tried everything but I would not back down and in the end she resorted to making me go into the ‘dunce’s corner’ and after a few hours I gave up, but I still thought she lied to me! I guess I was lucky not to have got the strap! Who’d want to be a teacher!

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Once a year we would have a school picnic and it was usually a day out on Gerald Black’s boat, to one of the bays in the Keri Keri Inlet. Opito Bay, which, at that time was miles away from anywhere, was the usual beach we would go to. We had sack races; egg and spoon races etc and had a thoroughly good time. Mum always made a delicious bacon and egg pie, on these occasions, and it was standard fare for many picnics we had. I think we looked forward to that pie as much as the outing. Dad had a large army type of thermos and that would be filled with soup, so we ate well on picnics.

Garden parties became very popular during, and after the war, and Mum and Dad were invited to most of them. Ken Ludbrook and his wife held many of these parties at their beautiful home in Ohaewai, where croquet and tennis was played. We liked the Ludbrook’s because they had three daughters about our age we could play with, and everyone seemed so happy there. I think this could have been the first time I actually saw a close normal family life between parents and their children. When the food was being eaten by the grown-ups Ken would let us have a round of croquet. David was a very bad sport. If he wasn’t winning he would throw his mallet down and walk off, and at home, if we played cards he would do a similar thing. He hated losing but Dad would indulge him! However the garden parties at Ohaewai came to an end when Ken died, tragically at a relatively early age.

The parties we liked best in Keri Keri, were held at Mrs Little’s home in Hone Heke Road. Everyone sat around the croquet pitch at tables with large sunshades, and those who didn’t play croquet, sat around and gossiped about everyone else. We heard lots of scandal but kept our mouths shut.

Miss De Renzie had a small cottage at the back of the main house and all the catering, for these parties, were placed in her sitting room for us to serve out later. We children were kept well out of sight because Dad firmly believed that children could be seen but not heard, so we used to go and play elsewhere on the grounds until the food was needed and then we were called in to wait on the ‘gracious?’ people.

I developed a life-long love for savoury eggs here. Miss De Renzie would give me plates of them to deliver to the tables, but half way there I would hide and gobble up half of them and then strategically place, the ones left over, in such a way that it looked natural. I was never caught!

These parties were very hypocritical and snobby affairs, I thought, particularly when I knew what was going on at home. I think a lot of ladies just went along; not to play croquet etc, but to gossip about others. I am inclined to think Mum enjoyed the garden parties because she could talk about ‘home’ with the English folk and Dad would be very jovial, so she could relax. (The acreage, where we lived, was never referred to as home but known as ‘the house’, whereas, home referred to England.) Dad showed a completely different face, in public, but once he was home he was in his ‘kingdom’ and ruled with an iron fist. Sorry about the pun!

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Now and again we would go to Paihia, for the day, and I was convinced that Russell was England, because everyone talked about overseas! Paihia was a very quiet place with a few batches near the church, and nothing much else. The other small bays had virtually no buildings and the road leading to Paihia, from Keri Keri was pretty dreadful, so we had no problems with crowds. Often we would be the only ones on the beaches.

Occasionally we would go on the ‘Cream Trip’ The boat not only picked up all the cream from the scattered Islands, but it also delivered mail and carried all sorts of freight. Every trip would be different depending on what had to be picked up so sometimes, it was dark when we got back to Paihia. On one occasion a lot of crayfish were taken aboard and were let loose on the front deck of the ship where we were sitting. I was terrified and screamed and screamed, while standing on the seat. I guess it was someone’s idea of a joke!

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After the war Mum joined the Country Women’s Institute and this was a very happy respite from family and orchards for her. I think the meetings used to be held every fourth Thursday in the old memorial Hall. Over the years she wrote many plays and short skits for C.W.I’s enjoyment and we loved going to the annual fancy dress balls.

Mum made some spectacular costumes and the one I considered the best was the monarch butterfly she made for David. She fashioned, out of black velvet cloth, a hooded; long-sleeved bodice and painted white spots on the chest. With an old sheet she dyed orange, she shaped the wings and then painted them exactly like a monarch’s wing and attached one side to the bodice, and with black tape, tied the other side to the elbows and the wrists with the result that, when David raised his arms, the beautiful wings would open and it was very effective. He also wore black stockings, black shoes and she made an antennae out of black wire. She won best of show with this outfit.

I remember two outfits she made for me one was a daffodil with a green bodice, and skirt was made out of yellow crepe paper, cut into the shape of petals, and the other costume was little Miss Muffet complete with a marvellous spider which I kept for years. Julia was converted into a wonderful witch, one year, and then a pixie another year.

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The War, in Europe, finished on the 11th November 1945 and Keri Keri celebrated by holding a victory march, starting at the Cathay Theatre and then around the village ‘block’ and onto the memorial hall for refreshments . I think the whole population of Keri Keri was there. We went with Dad, and marched with him. Bunting was flying from fence posts etc and I remember it as a very colourful event. This was the only time I ever saw Dad in full uniform, and wearing his medals. From then on he wanted to forget the war and would have nothing to do with the R.S.A.

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At the end of 1945, not only did the war finish, but our school days at Wakefield were to come to a rather abrupt end, owing to an incident involving Julia and David.

 

We were lined up outside the classroom and Julia was called to the front having done some dastardly deed. Miss De Renzie thought she deserved the cane so she got hold of Julia and lifted the cane in readiness to dish out the due punishment. Suddenly David rushed out from the line; grabbed the cane and after trying to hit Miss de Renzie with it; took to his scrapers towards the village with Miss de Renzie in hot pursuit. She lost him. The rest of us stayed in line and were stunned. When she came back she told us all to go home and I am not sure what happened after that but I can remember a very worried Dad, and a party of men, going out to search for David. They never found him until late into the night.

The following term,in 1946, David and I were sent off to boarding school in Wanganui.

Julia stayed on at Wakefield for another two years and at about the time we left, Miss De Renzie moved to Takapuna, and a Mrs Gilmore took over whom Julia remembers as the best teacher she ever had. I do not know when the Wakefield School closed, but I don't think it was long after Julia left.

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