A lot happens in seven years! As I reflect on this chapter some things stand out: changing from Primary School to Intermediate School to High School. That's a lot of transitions. I was fortunate that I enjoyed school and seemed to always have friends.
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| Ten years old. Front row 3rd from left. |
This photo shows I had two boys and one girl I "didn't like" (crosses drawn on faces)!! I also notice I wasn't wearing glasses yet.
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| Twelve years old. Middle row third from left. |
We had a very nice teacher (whose name I forget) for both Form 1 and 2. I loved Intermediate school except that my parents didn't allow me to learn dancing (!) so I had to sit and watch as the others learned ballroom dancing in readiness for the Form 2 ball.
I was baptised by Dad at the Baptist Tabernacle the day after my 13th birthday. I still have the Daily Light my sister Merry gave me on that occasion.
During these childhood/adolescent years a major highlight was our annual holidays on Ponui Island where Dad was chaplain at the Crusader Camps. Mum and Andrew and I (and sometimes Merry and Peter) camped out in the wool shed. The wool shed was in a paddock that often had a bull in it!! I'm very sad I don't have more photos of Ponui as it was a pivotal place in my life. Ponui is privately owned by the Chamberlain family. There are no roads, no cars, no shops and no "stranger danger" so I was free to wander in solitude without fear and soak up the incredible beauty of bush and beach. It nurtured the inherent contemplative part of me - long before I knew the word!
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| Getting from the launch to shore. Me in prow hanging on to a friend. |
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| Colleen and me. |
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| Me on left, Andrew the smallest boy. |
I'm pretty sure this was taken at Ponui. Peter, Dad, Merry, Mum, me, Andrew.
The next two photos (from Google) are well remembered aspects of the island.
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| Free roaming donkeys - a real feature of Ponui! |
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| The peaceful mix of farm and beach |
And then to High School - Epsom Girls Grammar School - EGGS for short. At first I rode my bike to school but when we moved to Glen Eden I caught the train every day. We "train girls" were allowed to pack our school bags and put on our hats and gloves just before the bell rang so we could run to the station and catch the train!
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| I turned 14 in my third form year. Second row from back second in from left. |
I was in Form 3AL - L for Latin A for top stream. I don't remember anything much about Latin now!
The next two photos (from Google) are well remembered aspects of the island.
