I’m Cedric McLeod and I’m a former owner of this property which Auckland Council now own.
Well Te Rau Puriri had about a kilometre of coastline, and the Prawn farm on the other
side of us had about a hundred metres, and we had a kilometre and a half of coastline
so it made the whole thing join up into one…
from the road it’s not one but on the coastline
it’s one continuous piece of land.
It was my father’s farm before we took over in 1981.
My father came here in 1950, Mum and Dad, as “rehab” settlers, “rehab” being
during World War Two servicemen were told they’d be looked after when they came
home so they were given reasonable interest rates on loans to buy properties which the
government bought off big landholders and cut into small economic dairy farms at the time.
I came here at about one year of age, went to school here at Waioneke school which
is twelve ks along the road, and then attended Kaipara College for three years and came back
on the farm milking cows and that’s what I’ve done all my life.
It was isolated from town,
but there was a strong sense of community because all the other rehab farmers had kids
the same age as us and we had a lot of company.
Ah…I met her in Helensville, it was on a blind date,
and that was it…fortunately she liked me so…[laughter]…
…I’m a Parakai girl really, so yeah, it was a blind date but our parents knew each other.
Coming out here I was really lucky though…it wasn’t isolated…a lot of people I think would drive
out here and think “Goodness me, it’s a long way, it’s in the back blocks…”
but as Cedric said there was a lot of social activity within the community and I felt myself
very lucky with the support of the older women in this community. Our children were probably
the first babies to be back in the district again, so these women were really great to me
and you know, they helped me - very supportive, I probably learned a lot of cooking skills
from them and things like that you know.
You only went to town once a month, ‘coz it
was gravel road all the way to Helensville, but in the 50s the locals built the local hall along here.
You didn’t go out to town to socialise, you socialised with all your neighbours and friends here.
That’s that one there I grew up in…and the boundary fence
ran straight…on a straight line. When we first married we were down the road renting
a place. So Mum and Dad bought this and we moved up there in about 1976. And we bought
the farm in 1981, and milked cows on it until 2015.
Well for me I think it’s special and why I think I’ve enjoyed being out here
is because it’s right on the Kaipara Harbour.
Well we’re pretty lucky to have a farm with a long coastal boundary, you know.
Great waterfront and two lovely beaches, that was pretty special.
That too I think brought a lot of other people, friends, family, vistors…
And so I’ve always thought that this farm and
beach was a very shared thing, you know especially over the summer
it was quite busy and quite social
So that was a nice part of it you know, being near the water…
I think most kiwis enjoy the water.
This place is pretty special to a lot of people, not just us, you know
and I think that’s what’s rather nice. We’ve shared it, a lot have people
have camped over here too in our time, had a lot of great summers. Well of course it’s
always going fishing or a swim, great for the kids, lots of picnics,
family Christmases and things, that's been fun.
It’s a great place for birdlife when you’ve got the tidal areas,
you know it brings the birds and I just love it when you see the godwits feeding,
that’s pretty special. But as I said, just the natural beauty of the place I think…
the Kaipara Harbour is seriously underrated. A lot of Aucklanders wouldn’t know much about it,
and I think they’ve been missing out, it’s been our secret, you know I think it’s
just nature at its best really.
Oh I think it’s great, we didn’t have to sell it to the council.
I’d rather see it go into public hands than get developed into some
subdivisions or whatever…I’ve milked cows all my life and I’m over cows.
People ask me “Will you miss the cows?” and I have to say “No”…even though they are good animals,
but after fifty-something years of doing it, time for a change. And we’re quite
happy that the council have bought it, basically we can come on to it…we’re ratepayers
so we own it still, that’s what’s good about it.