Ghosts of the Past: A memoir of a childhood in Port Ahuriri, Napier, New Zealand, in the 1950s

By Odette Taylor

Odette grew up on Hardinge Road directly across from the ocean. Everyday upon waking, she would rush outside to view the sea. Was it calm, with the sun dappling on the water, or was it stormy, with the waves crashing onto the shore? The sea was part of her life.
She learnt to understand the anguish of the fishermen’s wives when their husbands took their trawlers out in stormy weather hoping all would be well. She found that the sailors coming back late from the pub to walk to their ships at the wharf could be a concern. Even she, as a child, had her own concerns. Time to go to school. She loved school, but the challenge was how to get there safely.
People of the port, especially those on Hardinge Road, were all known to her. She could stop and chat to any of them, but she knew which ones to avoid. There was abuse that the children knew about, but probably not the adults. Some areas were best avoided.
Then there was the colourful, even bizarre, side to living down the port. Who would believe it wasn’t safe to sit on your loo? What person would wear theatre paint into an insurance office? Surely people would go to high ground when there was risk of a tidal wave? Odette’s young life came to experience many things, good and bad, but it was how those experiences were dealt with that mattered.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Feb 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781528985673

Odette Taylor

Odette Taylor was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1949, flying to Napier with her family at the age of six weeks. She lived by the sea until she married. She began her working life in Napier as a shorthand typist for an insurance company where she met her husband. Doug Taylor. She married Doug at the age of twenty-two in Masterton, Doug died at the age of thirty-four from cancer. Odette brought up her three daughters, aged eight, five and three, on their farmlet for nine years before moving into town. She trained as a primary school teacher in New Zealand then taught in Nanjing, Beijing and finally, Hong Kong until the age of sixty-six.

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About the Author

Odette Taylor was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1949, flying to Napier with her family at the age of three weeks. She began her working life in Napier as a shorthand typist for an insurance company where she met her husband, Doug Taylor. She married Doug at the age of twenty-two. In Masterton, Doug died at the age of thirty-four from cancer. Odette brought up her three daughters aged eight, five and three on their farmlet for nine years before moving into town. She trained as a primary school teacher and worked as a teacher in New Zealand, Nanjing, Beijing and, finally, Hong Kong until the age of sixty-six.

While in Nanjing, Odette wrote Ghosts of the Past.

Dedication

For my daughters, Michelle, Anne and Lynette, with love, and my brother, Tony.

In the loving memory of my parents, Sam and Marion Smart, and my dear sister, Janice.

Copyright Information ©

Odette Taylor (2021)

The right of Odette Taylor to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

All of the events in this memoir are true to the best of author’s memory. The views expressed in this memoir are solely those of the author.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528985659 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528985666 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781528985673 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2021)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LQ

Acknowledgement

Thanks to Geni White for her guidance and support when proofreading my manuscript. I would never have completed it without her. Thanks also to my publishers for their most encouraging evaluation of my work and for publishing it.

The wild, swirling foam flies in abandonment over the mole. A resounding Boom! ricochets off the incongruous, grey slabs again and