DAVE DOBBYN'S 'THIS TOWN' # Look how long it's taken you # to arrive in this town. # From the dawn into the dark, # I will hold you deep in my heart. # Look how long it's taken you to arrive in this town. # IDYLLIC GUITAR MUSIC I live in Mangamingi, east of Ethlam, in central Taranaki. I think, actually, where you live is` is what you make of it. We certainly live in a very nice place here in Taranaki. This is where I was brought up. My family were here. I think my earliest memories of, um, flying were when I was a little kid, making little balsa wood models, um, with the help of my dad and throwing them around the place. It's always been there, like a lot of people who are into flying. Some would say it's almost a disease. You were going to do it always. Probably get a bit obsessed with flying. I really enjoy being up there in the environment and almost becoming part of it. UPLIFTING MUSIC SOARS Mt Taranaki, Mt Egmont ` everyone here just calls it 'the mountain'. It's certainly significant to most people who live here, and you've got a strong attachment to it. Of course, once you live in an area, you get to know it. It becomes your home; it becomes part of you. And I think that Taranaki certainly is that to us. Kaponga is a very small town ` 350 people. Everybody knows everybody, and I think it's an awesome place to live. Yeah, just love it ` very peaceful. When I first had polio, I was about 7 years old. I was paralysed on one side and couldn't walk. I've had five brothers and four sisters. Been in hospital for so many years, I wasn't there when they were all growing up. So I'm sort of an outcast in the family, if you know what I mean. So I turned to animals, and I just enjoy animals. Horses were my biggest ones, then dogs. I've saved many a dog's life. And cats. And birds. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. I started collecting horse ornaments 35 years ago, and now I've got over 2000 ornaments all around the house. I just love it, and I've just been collecting ever since. People send me stuff, and people come to the door with stuff for me, and it's just been absolutely a dream. My favourite ornament is probably one of my Clydesdales from England, because it reminds me of my dad. He was my true and only friend, my dad. We did everything together on the farm, with the Clydesdales. I spent the first 15 years of my life in and out of hospital, but when I used to go home, I was always with the horses with Dad on the farm, driving the sledges and the drays ` you name it. Yeah, just loved it. It was a wonderful life. I really miss my dad. Oh yeah, he was just wonderful. The start of my collection... It was quite funny, actually. I went to town. I was about 15, and I seen this beautiful horse tea towel, and I thought, 'Oh, I must have that.' I took it back to the car, and Dad said to me, 'What have you got there?' And I said, 'A horse tea towel.' And he said, 'Oh, that's really beautiful.' And I said to Dad, 'I think I'll start collecting horse ornaments and paraphernalia.' And he said, 'You do what you want to, girl.' And that's how it started. To open my horse museum... Before my father died he said to me, 'For God's sake, child, you got 20 boxes of horse ornaments there. 'Girl, you've got to open that museum.' But, anyway, Dad passed away, and I opened it 12 months after he went. And it's just gone on from there. I have tourists from all around the country, rest homes with the elderly coming ` just anybody. I had people here at 7 o'clock at night wanting to go through. It doesn't matter what you're doing. You could be sitting on the loo, and there's a knock on the door. (LAUGHS) I say to them, 'Take your time. Just wonder through the house.' And, yeah, it's just awesome. They just love it. They really love it. How did you get all this stuff? How did you get all this stuff? Just collected it, darling. 40 years, I've been collecting. I put a piece in the local paper. It's the best thing I ever did. People from all over Taranaki came. I filled half a visitors' book that day, with people just coming through. That's my brother there. That's my brother there. Is it? Where's this? Down Otago? That's my brother there. Is it? Where's this? Down Otago? Otago, yeah. Yes. Rakaia River. Who does all your dusting? Who does all your dusting? I do, and I get somebody in once a week to do all the high stuff. Oh, wow. See you later, Shirley. See you later, Shirley. See you, darling. Bayley, should we do the dusting? That's a good boy. I dust three times a week, and it takes me five hours to do nearly 3000 ornaments. I love the lot. I have a lot of trust for people, but, um, I do get a bit wary. I had a necklace pinched once, and the stupid person signed my visitors' book. He was the only one through that day. I found out where he was living, and I said, 'Yeah, I want it back. He said, 'No, I've pawned it. I pawned it for drugs.' And I said, 'Oh, well, I see you've got a horse picture in the car, so I'm taking that picture. And he said, 'You can't. I'm calling the police.' I said, 'No, you're not. I've got your signature.' And he just looked at me. And I was on crutches. I tell you, I struggled with that picture, but I got it in my car. (LAUGHS) It all started with that horse tea towel, and it's never looked back. I've put it into a trust now. I'd like one of my family to take it over and to keep it going and keep adding to it. It's never to be sold. God help them if they did. Yeah. (CHUCKLES) 1 I'm a photographer for Photo Life Studios. I've been doing this about 10 years. This is my 10th year. You've got to have a bit of a sense of humour. It's not about photos, it's about entertainment; making them smile. Keep watching, and, guys, everyone look at me and say 'fluffy slippers'. ALL: Fluffy slippers! ALL: Fluffy slippers! Nice. Beautiful. Keep watching. This is all I do. School photos, every day. Wait, guys. We got to count you up. Two, four, six, eight... Get the school holidays off to recover. No, I enjoy it. OK, next class. Let's go. At the start of the year, ID photos at colleges. Straight into it ` primary schools, colleges, sport photos. Yep, all year round, almost every day. This young lady, park it there. That's you, sausage. We do most of the schools in Taranaki ` not all of them, but just about all of them. You got to be a little crazy to do this job and not be afraid to make a fool of yourself and do a few funny things to make the kids smile. OK, let's go. All the girls that are sitting ` feet together, girls. Knees together. Hands like this. OK. Keep watching, guys. And Mickey Mouse is the unsung hero of the day. And, guys, everyone look at me and say, 'Hello, Mickey.' ALL: Hello, Mickey. Nice. And everyone say, 'Mashed potato.' And everyone say, 'Mashed potato.' Mashed potato. Nice. Give yourselves a big pat on the back. You did very well. I think I've looked at my wedding photos once in 20, 25 years, but the school photos I've looked at a few times. ALL: Silly sausage! ALL: Silly sausage! Nice. Cool. Well done. You don't really appreciate them until later on in life. You know, I had Peter Jackson in my class at primary school. At the time you didn't think anything of it, and now he's famous. All right, guys. Come over. Everyone say 'spaghetti'. ALL: Spaghetti. Nice. Nice! OK, year 13s, let's go. Uh, they keep these photos for the rest of their life. Over here. Some of mine are old friends from 40-odd years ago. You look like you're riding a Harley like that. Sit like a lady. Remember, you'll treasure this for the rest of your lives. So big smiles, and everyone look at me and say 'wicked'. ALL: Wicked! Nice. UPLIFTING MUSIC Taranaki is an awesome place to live. I've lived on Egmont Rd all my life. Mt Taranaki is the symbol of home. I'm an oilfield electrician. I've worked internationally, but in the last few years I've decided I've had enough of the being away from home so much. That's what I always looked for when I was flying home from the rigs overseas. If you could get a glimpse of the mountain while you were flying down from Auckland, yeah, you were home. It was great. I'm actually, sort of, living the dream, really. We've got a nice little property just out of town. A lovely wife ` we've been together for 31 years; three lovely kids that are all doing well. I'm very proud of them. And, uh... and then I've got my shed, and the shed is... other than the family, is the centre of my universe. It's... It's where the cars are. Yeah, no, I couldn't really wish for anything more. I would have been about 9 or 10 when I saw my first Mustang, and, yeah, that was pretty much it. Anybody who knows me knows that Mustangs are it. I'm the last of the baby boomers, and we grew up playing with matchbox toys and models of the Mustangs. You get a bit of disposable income, now we can buy the cars that we dreamed about when we were kids. And it's just great. My very first ride in a Mustang was on the 18th of February 1984, and I remember it well, because it was our wedding day and it was our wedding car. My wife, Vicky, loves Mustangs too. Vicky had ridden in a couple of cars before me, which I was always very jealous about. Maybe 12 months later we got the opportunity to actually buy that car, and we still own it. It was just such a thrill. They were extremely rare in NZ, and the fact that it was our wedding car as well just made it that much cooler. We were really young, and we had to scrimp and save to get it, but, gee, I'm glad we did, because it's been such a huge part of our life since then. Even making the purchases since our first car have been a breeze, because she sees the look in my eye and I see the look in hers, and it's pretty much a done deal. It's been a great marriage, and the cars have been a really big part of it. This is a 1966 Fastback, and it's a real driver's car. Manual steering. No power steering in this car. Manual drum brakes, so you've got to have a decent right leg on you. They're just really really good fun, and just feel a million dollars when you're driving them. They're a real smile machine. I became involved with... with the Taranaki Mustang Club a few months after we bought our first car, and that was it. We were hooked. They were a great bunch of people, and now we've got 27-odd years of long friendships. It's really good. You know, all you have to do is own a car, and you've got your way into the Mustang Club. And, yeah, we've just had so much enjoyment out of it. It's just been great. Yeah, when we get together on the Mustang Club runs, we're just a big family, really. Just happy to get out and do stuff in the cars. The Mustang was originally released in 1964 and became an instant icon. They're an amazing-looking car. They just get people's attention immediately. Anybody who sees that running horse emblem knows it's a Mustang. It's funny, people's opinions of you sometimes. They think you must be well-off if you own a Mustang. But, um, they're actually cheaper than your average Japanese sedan. $20,000 would see you in a fairly plain, but fairly tidy car. Everybody parks their cars up together and goes around and looks at everybody else's cars; you know, basically talks rubbish and` and just has a good day out. It's always great excitement when a new car comes into the club, because everybody's over it like bees on honey. Nice, Rog. Nice, Rog. That's it, Mike. It's a lovely old car. I've owned, probably, about 12 or 15 Mustangs in my life. And this one I've owned for 30 years, and it's like part of the family; always will be. It's built into our genetic base, almost, now. Yeah, we just love the cars. Whether you're sitting in it, driving, or whether it's driving past you and you watch it go by, they brighten up your day. It doesn't matter whether I'm in our new one or our oldest one. The feeling's the same. It's a Mustang, and it's just great. I remember doing drawings when I was quite little. I'm always having to make some type of painting or something. I'd definitely describe art as like a therapy, sort of. Every spare moment, I try and fit that in with family and stuff as well. So I'd describe myself as an artist, probably, yeah, and a dad. My daughter Freda and my partner, Sophia, we live together in New Plymouth. Been here for the last three years. When we moved from Wanganui. I was a little bit hesitant, to be honest. We were driving over on the moving truck, and then, out of nowhere, Taranaki just appeared, right in front of me, and that was quite special. So, for me, it was kind of a personal, sort of, sort of welcoming into the area. Quite beautiful, yeah. You know, it's been great, I think New Plymouth's such a cool little town to live in. Graffiti, for me, is a definite sort of art form, obviously. There's a different generation of artists that are choosing to work on the street. It's been an interesting way to learn how to approach painting. Yeah, to start with, being a little bit more, you know, kind of, I suppose, secretive about doing it. Most the work I've done, really, has been at night, and even some really sort of, you know, quite dark spots where I've had to use the light on my cell phone. Yeah, I suppose the story of the way things have came out with my street art has been a journey. Rather than the same old tradition of art-making in galleries and things, for me it was a bit more exciting to do work on the street in the CBD. There was quite a lot of interest in it all over the place, really. I was still being a little bit anonymous about it; you know, the traditional notion of graffiti being vandalism. I think the council's perspectives are starting to shift a little bit. In 2010 I won the Mayor's Choice Art Award, you know, for the art. Perhaps not the way it was done, but but enjoying the process of walking around town and seeing all these works. Now it's just really broken through to the next series of things I want to do. As soon as we had my daughter, it was something that really struck a bell with me and gave me a lot of direction, which is why I'm learning different ways of working with council to make it more of a positive effect for my family. Art-making, for me now, is not just about me making art, but it's about representing everybody in my life. Every time I do my tiki character, I'd always have 'Viva Frida', you know, which was, for me, a sort of reminder of why I was doing what I was doing ` doing it for my family, definitely. Mm. Family's huge. Even learning about ancestors or something we learnt about when we were quite young. Whakapapa and whanaungatanga. Yeah, it's really important to me. Having that sort of, yeah, support, from the mayor, it was really unexpected. My street art, you know, initially was something, I suppose, was frowned upon when I was doing it anonymously and illegitimately. And then, coming round, I suppose, to being now commissioned to do a lot of the work and working with council to make exactly the same sort of stuff has been,... yeah, cool. This was a design that was commissioned earlier in the year. The way... the head peak, as well, it's like a Taranaki Maori traditional carvings. They` All the... the heads have the little mountain on the top. Taranaki, yeah. I think New Plymouth absolutely inspired me ` you know, the landscape here, the community. There's lots of support in New Plymouth for what I do. It's cool, actually ` just, sort of, seeing more art around town. Yeah, it's exciting. Definitely inspired by New Plymouth. 1 My name is Dave Chadfield, commonly known as Happy Chaddy. I live above my boatshed in Port Taranaki, best place in the world. If you tickle them underneath, they love it. Here comes the little one. This is Junior. Come on, Junior. He's very friendly. Seven years now, they've been coming. I'm one of 12 children. My mother had 12 kids. The whole 12 are still living today, um, although me mum and dad are gone. I just love the sea. From a little child, my dad used take us to Whangaehu Beach, and I'd row a dingy off the shore. My dad was always catching loads of fish, you know, and I was a young kid alongside, doing the same. When I was 12 years old, I was fishing from the town wharf, and a guy running a trawler out there ` Len McManaway. I went along and said to him, 'Can you take me out on your trawler?' He said, 'You go and get a note from your mum and you can.' So, next morning, I was at the boat at 6 o'clock in the morning, and from that I always used to work all my weekends, school holidays. And I was doing that the age 13... 12 or 13 years old. When I was 16 or 17 years old, I got my own little boat. I was married at 16. It was quite a struggle to feed your family from the sea. I've been accused of being a workaholic. I've loved all my kind of work. We now take about 15,000 people a year out. Taking people out, my motto is I'll do anything to make them smile, and usually I can work on that. I like seeing them come back happy. # Happy Chaddy's Charters, that's where I want to be. There was a song written by a lady called Jenny Gilbert about myself, and we play that during the trip ` Happy Chaddy's Charters Song. I do it a little radio skit here on Classic Hits in Taranaki. And they play that before I come on air. # He'll show you a good time. That's where you'll want to be. He'll show you a good time... # I love Taranaki. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in the world. When I see the mountain, I feel at home. I never learned to read and write, because I was dyslexic. When I went for my skipper's ticket in 1971, when you can't read and write, it's like going for a diploma. However, you learn another way. Like, all these flags around in the boatshed, I learned to sing them through. A for Alpha, D for Delta, B for Bravo, you know... I could just sing them right through. I made poems up, like, 'Two lights up ahead, turn to starboard, show your red.' Things like that. Old seaman stuff. That's left, isn't it? Left is a small word, port is a small word, red is a small word. When you're dyslexic, you can hold a lot more in your head. I still tell dirty jokes someone told me 40 years ago. (CHUCKLES) Rise up and look beyond your problems. You can do it. I have people all the time coming here cos the school system rejects them, and I see me in them. Six weeks old, she started doing that. Good girl. Where's the fish? (CHUCKLES) She loves fishing, don't you? Eh? Got one young guy, we call him Mini Me now, cos he does everything I do, and he can do it as good as me. We call him Mini Me. Mini Me was a kid that was going off the rails ` family have a few little problems, most probably with him. He wouldn't go to school. It's his birthday Friday. He becomes 15 on Friday. He's been coming here since he was 9 years old. He came and stood by the door and said, 'Can I come out with you on your boat?' And I said, 'By all means.' And he loved every minute of it. Over the weekends, I used to come down here to Chaddy Charters, and I told him I want to do what he does, and he... Chaddy ended up saying, 'Well, you may as well come and help me on the boat. Get a note from Mum or Dad.' So I pretty much went straight home and got that and came down and straight on the boat, and I just never really left. If I hadn't met Chaddy, I wouldn't have a clue where I would be. Yeah, don't know. He's changed my life quite a bit. Never used to get on well at school with the teacher. Yeah, it wasn't until I was about 11 or 12 I found out I was dyslexic. And it was when I was here with Chaddy ` he figured that's what was wrong. I still reckon between 80 and 90. I still reckon between 80 and 90. I reckon 70. 85. 85. $10. Mini, what do you reckon? No, I'm not betting. (CHUCKLES) I'm not betting. Well, at school the teachers would give me, like, big, hard maths books. 84. Wow. See? I was the closest one. And because I'm dyslexic, like Chaddy, it was quite hard for me to understand a lot of the books. The teachers wouldn't really help, and they'd go, 'No, you're not going it right. Go to detention,' or something like that, so it was... yeah, just weren't really on my side, I felt. And I used to get quite frustrated with that. They tried to get me through anger management courses and everything, but I don't really think I've got an anger management problem. But... yeah. He's taught me a lot. Oh, I got a good memory, like Chaddy. Like, I can remember a lot of numbers. Chaddy's got me into a lot of getting certificates. I went for all the Mayday courses, and then we went to Day Skipper. And then after the Day Skipper I'll go to Inshore Launchmasters. You got to be 18 to get the Inshore Launchmasters, and I'm kind of hoping to get that, so... yeah. With Inshore Launchmasters I'll be able to relieve Chaddy, as well, and then, yeah, of course, you just keep moving up and up and up. And you can go anywhere commercially. But, yeah,... I'm gonna get it. He's right now doing home-schooling with me, and he does that here. But he's the most dedicated person you could ever get. At 14, I would trust him with my boat any time. And he also helps other fishermen with their boats now. I've given him a skill that no one can just buy. You've just got to learn it, day by day, with being with an old fart like me. And that's what, years ago, when I went with old Len McManaway, some of the captains said I went with, you know. Mending nets, splicing ropes, knowing all the knots and things like that. The handiest guy on the boat is the guy that can keep the gear working, you know? You can tie cray pots together with that. Yeah. Good for hauling in gear and joining it. There'd be probably two people in Taranaki that can mend a net, and I'm one of them. You know, it's just sad to see it all going. I believe he'll become an outstanding young captain, and I'm very strong in my mind about that. I could see him in the next step up into my job. I look at a lot of the things at sea, like the stingrays ` I feed them daily. I had a pet shag, and she become one of my best friends. I look after the penguins here, and I've been doing that for 22 years. It's developed to being a penguin colony here. We had 15 chicks this year. So, how old do you reckon he is? 4 weeks. 4 weeks. Yeah, 4 weeks. You're bang on. 4 weeks. Yeah, 4 weeks. You're bang on. 4 weeks. Yeah, Chaddy's very kind and honest. I look up to him like a father. He hardly ever says no to anything. You don't often see him grumpy. He'll do anything to make you smile. Yeah, not 100% sure where I would be if I hadn't met Chaddy. I love the little penguins. All birds here can come and go as they please. We don't imprison any creatures, you know? They only ones we do is crayfish. We cook them and eat them. Beautiful. (LAUGHS) Happiness is having a lovely woman in your life, which I've got, and also having lovely kids. My daughter's a sea captain; my grandson, he's a sea captain. And no doubt there'll be a lot more. In your heart, they'll always be with you, and that's how I feel. The loveliest thing any man my age can have is when your grandkid comes out and gives you a hug. You know, to me, that hits my heart straight away. My own family ask me, 'When are you going to give up, Dad?' I'm a pensioner this year. And I said, 'Why would I want to give up, when I love what I do?' Happy Chaddy's Charters is where I want to be; in that old English boat, out upon the sea. You can while away the day. Old Chaddy's heaps of fun, and that's what it'll be. 1 My maternal side of my family came from here. My grandfather was an architect here, and my mother grew up here. I've lived here, on and off, all my life. Allie and I regard Taranaki as our home. It's where we brought our children up, and it's where we've spent most of our lives, and we just love the place. I have always had bad eyesight, and unfortunately for me, my eyesight went downhill. I was diagnosed with glaucoma. I now have basically no vision. Developed all sorts of skills as a blind person. You get better, the longer you're blind, of course. Everything that's left to you, you use to replace your eyes. Yogi's not my first guide dog, so I'd learnt quite a lot about how to treat guide dogs. Um, and I've had dogs all my life. In front of that fireplace, on that mat, is where I first met Yogi. I had just lost a guide dog, and my trainer turned up with Yogi, who had injured his shoulder, and she was assessing him. There was considerable concern that he'd never be able to work again. And I said, 'I'd love to have a go at keeping this dog.' And Sam said, 'Well, look, I'm really not keen for you to take the risk.' And she said, 'Well, let's give him a trial.' We went for a long walk around Pukekura Park. Yogi, I reckon, knew that this was his chance to escape being retired as a guide dog. We ran the whole way. I came back, sweat pouring off me. Poor old Sam must have been the same. Yogi performed like a champion. It was, sort of, 'There's nothing wrong with me. Look at this. I can do it. We're going around the park. Yippee!' And so... (CHUCKLES) I said to Sam, 'Well, there's your answer. Look, he really wants to have a go.' At that stage he was having physiotherapy. They agreed to let me have him, on the condition I kept doing the physiotherapy, which I did for about six to nine months. And he just got better and better. And today there's no sign of any injury whatsoever. I just knew that he'd come right. I don't know how I knew. Uh, and we still have kind of a mental bond ` that we know things about each other, or I don't have to say to him; I just know what he... And he's the same. The only problem that I had when we were training him was we decided that we would take him into a supermarket and The Warehouse. Yogi has a fetish for these sorts of buildings. Without any instructions, he just takes off. 'I'm in charge. We're off.' We'd quite often wind up in the dog food section. But... (CHUCKLES) if you` He will take direction, though. If you tell him to turn left, he'll turn left. But otherwise he'll just cruise along and tow you away. (CHUCKLES) Are you hoping we'll buy some? You're a clever dog, aren't you? When he's off his lead and running around, he reverts to puppyhood. And if there's a handy dog to play with, he'll play with them. It's lovely to be aware of. All I get is the occasional flash of yellow, just past my feet, when he races through. It's incredibility rewarding, having a guide dog, actually. It does, in many ways, compensate for going blind, if anything can. In fact, in a way, a guide dog is the perfect thing for me, cos I've always wanted to take my dogs wherever I've gone, and now I can. I live in Puniho, which used to be quite a sizeable little settlement and marked on all the maps, but now it's just a patch of deserted jungle out around the coast of Taranaki. And I love it. If I had the choice of living anywhere in the world, I would live right here. Uh, call me a creature of habit; call me too lazy to clean up enough to shift. But I like it here. I've travelled a lot. I love the interest of other places, but this is home, and you can't leave. The mountain calls you back. We're so fortunate here. It's beautiful. There is a beach in Taranaki which is extremely special. It's amazing, because there's an old dump which keeps being washed out of the cliff, and every time you go there it's different. And beautiful things just edge out of the cliff after every big sea. That's a keeper. I love the texture and tint of things that have age built into them. The richness that you get with old. I fill every available space with junk. It gets a bit difficult to walk in my studio sometimes, but I'm not complaining. I hate motels, where everything's bare and empty and clean. I go quite twitchy in bare rooms. A lot of people see me as cheerful and always good for a smile, but every time I make an assemblage it turns out to be bleak, black, dark. I often use images of death and fear, and to me they show a beauty. They show a truth, whereas pretty things don't ` cupcakes and flowers and kittens. HAUNTING VIOLIN MUSIC A lot of things give me real joy. I do like music a lot ` gloomy stuff. Gorecki's one that he wrote about the Holocaust, that's terrific. Life is full of small pleasures ` reading a good book; um, solving mathematical problems, which have an innate beauty. I love mathematics. I used to teach for, you know, full time at college, um, in the senior students ` the 17- and 18-year-olds. I really respect them, and we did have a lot of fun. And I feel very honoured to be allowed the friendship of young people. That's a delight. Taekwondo is a delight; a source of great happiness to me. All the differences vanish. You are equals with all the people of your own belt, regardless of age, gender, colour. One thing I really like about taekwondo is the` the belt colour is what matters. You don't classify them as little boy or old lady. Who cares? Let's see how they kick. Old people are invisible. Nobody sees you. I think our attitudes are such that old people are regarded as, perhaps, a bit of a nuisance. I am so fortunate to have found a way of life which allows you to continue to learn and to reach goals, even at this advanced age. I was 56 when I started. I got my black belt at age 60. I'm 68 now, and I'm a 4th Dan, and I'm the proudest person in the whole universe. Taekwondo can get you into a bit of trouble sometimes. I was walking across New Plymouth in the dark, and a car full of young men screeched to a halt alongside me, leapt out and ran towards me. I was just going down into a stance, and he thrust a chocolate bar at me and called out 'random act of kindness', jumped back in the car and they all drove off. He doesn't know how close he was to having his head kicked in. Unlike most grannies, I can defend myself. My current state of mind is happy; determinedly happy. Life is... it's extremely short, so my favourite saying is, 'Dance till they drop you.' And, you know, dance while you can. SINGING IN MAORI SINGING CONTINUES I joined the Patea Maori Club in 1991. A cousin of mine said, 'Come along to a practice at the Patea club.' Been there ever since. A few years ago they were looking for new tutors. Andy and I thought, you know, 'Let's give it a go.' We just wanted to get in there and just share some of the skills that we had picked up over the years. My family have been involved with the club for a very long time. I'm usually behind the guitar, controlling things from the back while my wife's in the front. When I'm performing, I feel really great, remembering all the songs that have been taught to me, and now I'm teaching the next generation. And to carry on the passion for our taonga that have been given to us to give to other people. I've been in this group since 1972, you know, and I love coming. I like to be there, cos they're family and because we're a very closely knitted family. You had that lull in the group. The freezing works closed in 1982. People left town, and there was no jobs. It was going. It was marvellous. The town was surviving. It had everything you could ask for. But as soon as it closed, that's when everything went really downhill. We are drifting on a boat called Patea, and we know that around the corner is a waterfall. Tomorrow we're going to plunge over that waterfall with our family. And God help us. REPORTER: 800 will lose their jobs, and Patea will lose its economic life blood. The closing of the works could add to drift of Maori youth to the cities in search of employment. Right now, 2000 souls are praying for a miracle. The outlook is bleak. I worked down the works, and then the works closed down. It was very sad ` very very sad. And you had members having to go out of town to work in Waipukurau and Hastings; up in Auckland... Yeah, so, they were all over the place. In the early 1980s, the club were fortunate enough to have Dalvanius return from his travels overseas and his working in the music industry. And he spent a bit of time back home here, and it was probably going through his mind that, 'No, there's something that I've got to do.' And that's when he came up with the song Poi E. His idea was that if he got the Patea Maori Club together, he'd boost the town, and that was his main reason for the song. He met up with a wonderful songwriter in Ngoi Pewhairangi, and they put Poi E together. # E rere ra e taku poi poro-titi # ti-taha-taha ra # whaka-raru-raru e... # There was a lot of resistance at first. They sat back, and they listened to this upbeat, funky music. It wasn't even heard of, what Dal presented. It wasn't in Maori music. First time. But now they all do it. As you can imagine, I think a few of them were a bit... thinking the song was too out there for them. I thought it was quite dumb, really, at first. We all thought, 'This is not going to work.' But you know Dal and his ways. You know, Dalvanius was very persistent, so... Dal is a one-man band, and he's got his own mind. He knew what he wanted. He knew what he wanted. He had an ear for music. Absolutely. And he made us stand by the piano until we got the notes and the parts right for Poi E. It wasn't until we did the record that I knew something special was going on there. Yes. Became a hit, didn't it? It was on the NZ charts for 22 weeks and was number one for four weeks. When the song hit number one, it boosted the group right up. It brought a lot more of our families back, and more of the younger ones joined the group. When I was a kid I used to watch them from outside the window. And I was too shy to ask the nans and that if I could join in. Poi E sort of gave me more courage, I suppose, to be a part of it. Everyone wanted to join at that time, and it was really good, cos a lot of them had moved away. And when Poi E came out, it, sort of, made everyone remember where they actually came from. Patea is where they started. There are a lot of kapa haka clubs throughout the country, but the experiences you get with Patea Maori Club are very different, because of Poi E, basically. I want to see my kids part of that too. I love that waiata, because when my younger brother was alive, that was his favourite song. And now our son sings it, just like his uncle. For me, I don't think Poi E will ever die. I'm never tired of it. BOTH: Never. Never tired of it. No. For me to get up on stage and perform Poi E... Proud. It's exciting to perform, and it's nice to be up there looking at peoples' faces when you're performing. You're standing up there representing Patea. ...ti ta taha ra whakarunga whaka raro taku poi e! CHEERING, APPLAUSE The future of the club is going to be like this from now and onwards. It's growing now ` more so than ever. My young one, he's getting into it. He loves coming to kapa haka with me, And myself, it took me a little while to get over the shyness, but I feel I'm pretty good now. (CHUCKLES) Yeah, I just feel proud to be a part of Patea Maori Club. We grew up in a beautiful community, and it will always be a beautiful community to us. Encouraging each other to be strong, even through the hard times and the bad times. We survived through that and having hope in Dal and what he could do for us. Dal, oh, he'd be proud of us. Dal, oh, he'd be proud of us. Absolutely. Patea's a great community. It's a place that a lot of people think that's... um, it doesn't happen, but it does. There's such delight in things that hold a story. It's a rich life. It really is. They can't believe the dusting. 'Oh my God,' they go. (CHUCKLES) But nobody offers to help. (LAUGHS) You've got this bond. You get this lovely companion. He's brilliant at everything that he does. I just love what I do. Everything's good, really. If I had to die comfortably with no pain, the most easy way to do that is to take the bungs out, drive your boat to the horizon with a bottle of rum. (LAUGHS)