19.
Life in Waipukurau
No man remains quite what he
was
When he recognises himself.
Thomas Mann
Waipukurau is a borough in Central Hawke's Bay
with a relatively stable population of over 3,000
inhabitants. In 1959 it was a thriving service centre for
the surrounding prosperous farming district. It had the
stock saleyards, a hospital, the Pukeora Home for the
Disabled and the Central Hawke's Bay High School, as well
as two primary schools and a thriving kindergarten. After
Stokes Valley, which was then isolated and largely
undeveloped, Waipukurau seemed to us an attractive
township, with all essential amenities close at hand. I
enjoyed being able to walk with the children to the
shopping area. There was a whole street of well-stocked
shops, district offices, banks, a cinema and a hotel.
There was also a park with a children's playground
nearby.
Our five-year-old daughter Zosia was now ready to start
school, and our three-year-old son Stephen was able to
commence kindergarten. Wim was provided with a Borough
Council vehicle for work. He was able to return home for
lunch daily, so we were together more. Our new home was a
Borough Council house situated diagonally across from the
Roman Catholic church, behind which was the St. Joseph's
Convent Primary School, which Zosia attended. The house
consisted of three bedrooms, a dining room and a lounge.
Both these rooms had open fire places, which made our
home cozy on cold days. The kitchen had ample cupboards
and a good electric stove. We had a modem bathroom, a
washhouse and a spacious garage.
A few months after moving to Waipukurau we bought a
second-hand car, a Vauxhall. We thought that we 'were
made'. With our own vehicle we were mobile at last. For
the first time in six years of married life we bought
furniture, a lounge suite and a small coffee table. Now
we were able to relax in comfort. These material
possessions made life more pleasant during our leisure
time. Several Dutch families resided in Waipukurau. Most
of the men were carpenters employed previously on the
construction of the Catholic church, which had been
completed before our arrival. They were friendly people,
who welcomed us to the borough. Most of them had young
children born in New Zealand and understood the
loneliness and hardships, to which new settlers were
exposed. Fortunately, with full employment during those
prosperous post-war years, everyone was gainfully
employed in the district. At that time New Zealand's
primary products were in great demand and fetched high
prices in Britain and in war-devastated Western Europe.
Eastern Europe, behind the 'Iron Curtain', was then
unable to afford expensive imports from overseas and
traded mainly within the Communist bloc.
We made friends with several of the Dutch settlers
resident in Waipukurau. One Dutch lady, a mother of five
young children, recounted how they had lived in a tent in
the camping ground when they first arrived in Waipukurau.
During wet weather they had slept in the toilet block to
shelter from the elements. She had been very miserable
and had cried often, finding it very difficult to raise
her children in such primitive circumstances. She missed
her family's support, as did most other Dutch mothers,
who had no relatives in New Zealand to assist them in a
practical way or to offer moral support.
Several New Zealanders we met in Waipukurau were also
most friendly. Some of these people even volunteered to
baby-sit for us, so we could take an occasional break
from our children to attend a film or lectures conducted
by Victoria University's Extension Department, which
organised courses for adults in provincial centres. We
enjoyed this mental stimulation and the new acquaintances
we made. We found that New Zealanders born outside
Waipukurau were especially friendly to us, because in a
small, parochial community newcomers were not integrated
straight-away. The locals needed time to assess new
arrivals before fully accepting strangers in their midst.
My mother continued to reside and nurse in Lower Hutt,
but was now very keen to move closer to us. Alek had been
employed in the South Island since 1956. He had worked
for three seasons at the Balclutha freezing works, and
had then moved on to the Bluff Harbour construction
scheme as a steel fixer, before transferring to the
Mataura freezing works in 1959 for that killing season.
After developing a serious sinus problem, he obtained
employment as a porter at the Gore Public Hospital. There
he met his wife-to-be, a trainee nurse. Alek corresponded
with us, so we were glad when he visited us in 1960. That
same year my mother obtained a nursing position at
Waipukurau as the acting Matron of the Pukeora Home for
the Disabled. This home for the physically handicapped
had formerly been a TB sanatorium set in attractive,
spacious surroundings on a hill, with panoramic views of
the local area. Mother was fortunate in occupying the
entire top floor of the nurses' home complex, which
commanded a magnificent view of the meandering Tukituki
River and the adjacent lowlands. We enjoyed our visits
there.
In 1960 Wim's 19-year-old brother, André, also emigrated
from Holland and joined us in Waipukurau. André, like
his eldest brother Wim, had an adventurous spirit. When
Wim had left The Netherlands nine years earlier, André
promised to follow in his footsteps. He was true to his
word and we were delighted to have him as part of our
family for six months. As André had not lived away from
home before, this was a necessary stepping stone in his
new life. After a more restricted life in Holland he
enjoyed exploring the new work possibilities in New
Zealand and worked as a plumber's assistant, haymaking, a
builder's mate and making children's rocking horses for
sale. All these were challenging experiences for a young
man used to a more regimented lifestyle in Holland. Our
children were pleased to have another uncle in New
Zealand and Wim was glad to have another relative in this
country.
The day after André's arrival in Waipukurau, after Wim
had left for work and Zosia was at school, in keeping
with the Dutch custom, I made a cup of morning coffee
taking time to chat to my young brother-in-law.
Three-year-old Stephen requested peanuts, which he loved.
I was aware that peanuts were best eaten under
supervision at his age, so I sat him and two-year-old
Annemarie beside me, with a few peanuts in two separate
egg-cups for each child. While I was engrossed in
conversation with André, Annemarie took some of
Stephen's peanuts. He, feeling very indignant, retaliated
impulsively by hitting her face. She cried out in
protest, and began to choke on the well-chewed peanuts in
her mouth. She turned blue. Instantly, I turned her
upside down and slapped her on the back. This did unblock
her breathing passages, but she was still blue and
gasping for breath. I realised that she had inhaled at
least some of the peanut fragments. I confined Stephen to
his bedroom, leaving the astonished, newly-arrived André
to take care of him, and with Annemarie in a pushchair, I
rushed to our local doctor, Martin Girling-Butcher,
running all the way.
A large number of patients were already waiting, but I
was able to see the doctor immediately. After a brief
consultation we were dispatched by taxi to the Waipukurau
Hospital. There Annemarie had a chest X-ray together with
her favourite doll, her constant companion. She refused
to part with this toy, which was a source of comfort to
her. Shortly after this, we were on our way by ambulance
to Wellington Hospital. Annemarie was not only
traumatised by her experience of inhaling peanuts, but
also by the succession of frightening subsequent events,
including being handled by strangers in white gowns and
sterile face masks, some listening to her chest, others
taking X-rays. Her hospital room was also occupied by an
18-month-old toddler who had inhaled a piece of coal. His
mother had left him unattended for a few moments to fetch
some napkins from the clothesline, when this misadventure
had occurred. The boy needed surgery to remove the
foreign body from his lung.
I was permitted to remain with Annemarie overnight in
hospital. I found it difficult to part with her. I stayed
with Mrs. Nees, our friend who had represented Wim's
mother at our wedding in 1954. That night the doctors
endeavoured to locate the peanut fragments by inserting a
bronchoscope into Annemarie's trachea. They succeeded in
removing the few pieces they were able to locate, but it
was necessary that she remain in hospital for
observation. In the morning I was at my daughter's
bedside, hoping all would be well. However, it soon
became apparent that there were still peanut fragments
lodged in one of Annemarie's lungs, as she had developed
pneumonia accompanied by an extremely high fever. The
lung inflammation did not respond to antibiotics, so a
couple of days later it was decided to insert a
bronchoscope into the affected lung to attempt to remove
the remaining particles. Before the anaesthetic could be
administered she had to be dehydrated by an injection and
was not allowed fluids from midnight on. By this time I
felt very anxious. I prayed fervently for her recovery,
as I paced up and down the long hospital corridor with
Annemarie in my arms. Her breathing rate was irregular.
Running a high fever and being dehydrated she constantly
requested a drink, which I had to refuse. This was a very
tense time in our lives.
Wim was informed by telephone of Annemarie's condition
and of the imminent operation. That afternoon when she
was finally anaesthetised and taken to the operating
theatre, we were joined in prayer by the entire
Waipukurau Catholic Primary School. Suddenly I felt that
she would recover. My husband had a similar feeling at
the same time, he told me later. We both believed in the
power of prayer. When Annemarie returned to the ward, she
was a healthy pink colour and her breathing was normal
again. I was convinced instantly that our prayers had
been answered. This second operation had been a success.
Twelve tiny pieces of peanuts were removed from her lung
and I was allowed to inspect them. I remained until she
greedily drank a pint of water, spilling much of it as
she anxiously dipped her hands in it to quench her great
thirst. I had never seen anyone so much in need of water.
She was like a desperate, dehydrated little animal
fighting for life. Annemarie had great determination, a
character trait of her emerging personality which helped
her in the years ahead to deal with life's adversities.
After a few more days in hospital we were able to return
home to Waipukurau, grateful for Annemarie's full
recovery, but badly shaken by this frightening
experience, the memory of which remained vividly in our
minds. Life in Waipukurau continued uneventfully. Wim was
busy attending to the borough's engineering works, such
as water supply, sewage and drainage works. He also
designed a new housing subdivision during his time as
borough engineer. André adjusted well to life in New
Zealand and his English improved greatly during the six
months he lived with us. He was full of youthful
exuberance and confidence, always ready to try new
things. He now felt ready to leave our home for
Wellington, where he initially stayed with our friends,
before venturing to live by himself for a while in a
caravan. When he left we anxiously awaited news from him
about his life in the capital.
We were now expecting our fourth child. He was born on
27th May 1961 at Waipukurau. We named our second son John
Andrew. John was Wim's second name and his father's name,
Johannes in Dutch. He was named after his opa
(grandfather). Now, after two years as the Borough
Engineer at Waipukurau, Wim was ready for a change. He
had widened his professional contacts in the Hawke's Bay
Province through monthly meetings of the local branch of
the Engineers' Association, of which he was a member. At
one such meeting Wim met Basil Johnson, whom he
approached about possible future employment in his Napier
consulting engineering practice of Powell, Fenwick and
Partners. When our second son was six weeks old Basil and
Mary Johnson with their three children paid us a visit in
Waipukurau. Later Wim was offered a civil engineering
position in Napier, which he gladly accepted.
Before our departure we persuaded André to return to
Waipukurau, where he found employment and a place to
board. My mother purchased a small house in the borough
and transferred to a position as a Charge Sister of the
Geriatric Ward at the Waipukurau Public Hospital. She
remained in the borough after we left for Napier three
months later, The Mayor. Harry Winlove, expressed the
council's appreciation of the borough's first civil
engineer's work. He paid tribute to Wim's conscientious
approach to his duties and his independent evaluation in
solving engineering problems in Waipukurau. Although we
had some very happy memories of our life in Waipukurau
and again regretted leaving good friends behind, we were
now ready to explore new horizons and to meet new
challenges in Napier.
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