More about the area.

Maggie Cunningham had not sold many of the crib sections, so there were not many local people in residence. Keith and Pat Gibson were next to the Sawmill. They became great friends and our families interacted well over the years.

Almost opposite was an old bridge from a ship that was going to be used as a crib, but it never happened and was taken away after a number of years. Charles Jones had a crib almost opposite the Headquarters Site - back off the road and there were many types of plants in the well kept area. Rather nice hazelnuts.

Next was Goblin Woods Old Mr & Mrs Matches - Bill died and I moved into some huts close to Mrs Matches and she looked after me. I mowed her lawn using an on spring-release starter. I would spend an hour getting the thing started and I would do no more than a round of cutting when she would bring drinks because 'I must be so tired!'.

One of he tricks was to put a pinch of salt in a cup of coffee to improve the flavor, and to be decadent, she would whip cream and place it on ginger-nut buscuits, then sprinkle with raspberry jelly crystals - yum! She taught me to cook wild pork or venison using tin foil and fruit like pineapple - yum again.

Along the road a bit was Tayor's crib, and that family regularly holidayed there. Still further the Leggetts had built a small holiday house. The next section was owned by Dr Laing and his wife, and the section above Grave's Dam was bought by the Gillies - the put an old gypsy type horse drawn carriage there. Opposite was Maggie Cunningham's empty house. Across the river to the south was Bert and Edna Moir, and a little further along Reid Road, Phil Bennett farmed.

To the North was Cona Lynn owned by Margaret MacKay (and the abandoned golf course with it's sod club house), then Ireland's house and just a little on was Dr & Mrs King's house - the latter three did not go there regularly, but old Johnny Watson would putter there each day on his green, BSA Bantam motorbike as he was the gardener and cared for the Rhododendrons and Azaleas.

The Blakeboroughs lived on the Herbert Hill, above the railway line - someone told me that there was an official station there 'if you stand there, passenger trains are supposed to stop!' Well I don't know, but certainly access was available because there were strong, railway-made gates there. A sailing tragedy saw the Blakeboroughs move to town and I visited Don in the Railways Signal House when I purchased the land off him. On the corner by the bridge Freddy Robertson was killed by his jersey bull - he was a show bull and Freddy thought of him as a pet!

Across the river, on the flats Billy Sharp farmed, his house was on the famed 'Sharp's Corner' - the scene of many road accidents, Billy marked his gate post each time there was an accident, and even featured in the newspaper! Francis stayed on after Billy's death and exceeding 75 years, she still slept in the bed she was concieved in - that has to be recorded!

The road was a gravel one until Alan Dick's move into the area prompted the Waitaki County Council to tar seal it. There had be droughts and a rabbit plague but despite this grose thrived - again Allan Dick had used his influence to try seeding the clouds with CO2 ice to cause rain. Well the dry finally ended and as always in North Otago, once the rain starts, it doesn't know when to stop!