Dr David Morris – growing up in Remuera in the 1940s and 50s.

We were twins, Richard and I, born on the day Singapore fell, 15 February 1942, often told this as a reminder that the Japs were coming. Who were the Japs we never knew but we were told this to explain why there was a deep trench dug in the garden near the front hedge of our place, 463 Remuera Rd. When they were coming the policeman who lived across the road would sound the siren and all of the family would have to hide in this trench and our big brothers John and Peter would help put branches over the top to hide us all.

The Japs never came, but often later we would see searchlights flashing across the sky at night. We were told they were looking for Japanese planes that might be coming – this was very exciting. We were later taken to show the big concrete places on Tamaki Drive where the searchlights were housed.

There was a Dairy across the road. George and Betty worked there and sold the necessities of life, which included ice cream.          Another shop across the road was very small, next door to the dairy. That shop was to enlarge, and it became Dixon’s Antiques. The dairy is still there.

We all went in our turns to Miss Macdonald’s Kindergarten down Orakei Rd on the right,   We loved going there, and walked down and back every day. About 25 years later I was to work with Graeme Macdonald in neurosurgery at Auckland Hospital as his house surgeon.   Miss Macdonald was his Aunt. Graeme lived at the top of Orakei rd on the left – the house is still there.

Horses would often be ridden down Remuera Rd. This would cause consternation at our house because our dog, an untamed Irish terrier, would run out after them and bark and snap at their heels.   I was terrified he would get kicked and killed. – we had to run after him, grab his collar and bring him home.  A draught horse pulling a cart would trudge up and down Remuera Rd.        One would be for rubbish. We would have to leave our big tin of rubbish at our front gate and a man would empty it into his open cart full of the rubbish from all the other households. These carts had the signs ‘JJ Craig’ on their side.   (beer for Xmas).         A different horse would bring the milk – we would leave our empty bottles with money or tokens inside at our front gate, and the milkman would run back and forth from his cart exchanging full milk bottles while his horse ambled on his own up to the next house and waited there for him. Famous NZ long distance runners like Bill Bailee were milk men.

Just down the road on the corner of Lochiel Avenue was a big house and garden with hens and chickens roaming free in the garden. If we knocked on the front door we would give some bread to Mrs Lawford who lived there and in exchange she would give us fresh eggs.

Our great grand Aunt Bashie Jackson lived down Lochiel Road and she would give us freshly cooked biscuits when we visited her. The family owned the ‘Jackson’ real estate business in Remuera.  Her grandson later told me that he used to ride his horse from her house over the fields of the northern Remuera slopes down towards the Harbour.

If we needed to get anything special we would run up the road in bare feet to the “Avenue.”  Everything that was important in our lives was there. On the corner of Vicky Ave was the big Post Office with its clock high up on the outside.  Next door was a fish and chips shop. Tucked down a tiny passage was a laundry run by a friendly Chinese lady.    On the other corner of Victoria Ave was Wylie Pharmacy where we could pick up medicines for our winter colds.

On the opposite side of Remuera road was a Hardware shop and a growing number of other exciting shops, highlighted by a Dairy which could make milkshakes, costing 2 pennies extra if we had one with added ice-cream!  Other goodies were chocolate coated marshmallows, called ‘Buzz bars’, and  chocolate dipped ice creams.  There was a Grocery shop nearby, called ‘Self Help,’  and another Grocery shop called ‘Marriotts’ on the corner of Clonbern Road.

On the other Clonbern rd corner was the fruit shop, owned by Mr and Mrs Wong, that had everything, including fresh strawberries for Xmas!  Next door was the ‘Puritan’, a bakery which sold delicious cream buns and the best pies ever!  We were often told to go to Hellabys butcher shop where the floor was covered with sawdust, and ask Mr Mclean for the specially wrapped meat that our mother had ordered by telephone.

Further along was The Tudor Cinema. – every Saturday afternoon there would be a Matinee film, usually a Western, with cowboys and Indians -never to be missed!  Occasionally in the School Holidays there would be a new Walt Disney movie – I remember ‘Bambi’, and ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarves’, and buying jaffas and double-coned ice creams at halftime.

Nearby was the Fire Station. Excitement was when we heard the siren and the fire-engines would race out onto Remuera road.      The Library was of course a very special place which we would go to and choose a new book to take home to read.

Further down on Wairua Road was a wonderful Park which had a merry-go-round,  high swings and long slides where we could play until it was time to go home for dinner.

Trams would travel up the middle of Remuera Rd.   We could hear the ‘ding,ding’ ring when the conductor pulled the cord of the tram bell, to let people know that the tram was on its way.

It could take us to Newmarket and to the Olympic swimming pool.  We had lessons from Mr Fred Hay. He also taught Philippa Gould, who swam backstroke at the Commonwealth games, -she was a star!  At the deep end, the Olympic pool had 1 metre and 3 metre springboards and a 10 metre high tower. A dare that we would challenge each of us to do before going to Intermediate school was to jump off the top of this 10 metre high tower- this took a lot of bravery to do… you learnt to take a big breath, and hold your nose and point your feet just before you hit the water!   It was a great thrill! A special treat was to have enough pocket money to go to the little tuck shop at the pool and buy a hot-toasted ham sandwich!  And in the Newmarket shopping area was a special Dairy on the corner of Teed St called the “American” milk bar that had a juke box and you could listen to all the latest pop music as well as having a milkshake with the latest flavour, – creaming soda was a real favourite!

The tram would take us to Mt Hobson where we could climb up to the top, or fly our kites or homemade balsa-wood  airplanes,  -Tiger moth and Mustangs were our favourite models. In Springtime that eastern slope was full of amazing yellow daffodils.

In the early days the Trams only went down as far as Upland road, and that end point was called “the Junction”. Later the trams went as far as Meadowbank and so we could travel to the little 9 hole golf course there, on the fields where the big Shopping  Centre is now.

Between Ladies Mile and Abbotts Way there were swamps and a shallow lake and we could paddle our blown-up inner tubes of tyres,  as far as the Waiatarua reserve before the lake there got drained into the Orakei Basin.

The other exciting adventure place was down the far end of Victoria Ave,  -there was a path through the bush which led to the Sewerage pipeline which seemed to go on forever and we could walk along this without telling anyone!