I think they sold it to the New World supermarket next door, but before that my grandparents lived in a 1960s brick house on Bellevue Road in Ōtūmoetai.
My granddad built roads all across the Bay of Plenty. He’d point them out to us on long drives. He said he slept in ‘ponga whares’ in the bush when he was away.
Photos replace memories and I’m not sure if we got to see his bulldozer or if I just remember the photo.
I remember the cockles in the big pot on the stove though. And those sea snails with the cat’s eyes. I remember the bowl of shortening in the fridge and the open can of sweetened condensed milk. I remember my grandad and uncle Patty laughing as they picked at a pig’s head on the table in the kitchen. I remember piles of buttered white bread and sliced tomatoes and cucumber. “You had a feed?” were the words that welcomed us when we arrived to that house.
And although the net curtains were always closed, there was a soft warm light in the lounge. And the national program was always playing.
I had my first cup of tea there. My nana assured me it was a very refreshing drink. I added 4 teaspoons of sugar and never looked back.
I was in the front yard on rubbish day one summer. My grandad got talking to the truck driver and he called me over…
‘Run and get the boys a box of beer from the fridge!’. I returned with a box of Waikato and grandad wished the boys a merry Christmas.
‘Bellevue road (a dozen for boys)’ didn’t make the ‘We lived our lives on top of this’ album but these things niggle at me if I don’t release them. Now added as a bonus track exclusively on Bandcamp at this stage.
Happy festive season! Ngā mihi o te wā ki a koutou!
We lived our lives on top of this — Bandcamp
