Papa Cliffs And Feral Goats - Memories Of Whangamomona

Whangamomona
Artist: Roger Smith, 2019.
Prints available here.

In my fourth form at boarding school I spent a short term holiday with a school friend, on his family farm in Whangamomona.

Whangamomona is in upland Taranaki, inland from the town of Stratford.  It is tough, unforgiving country with steep papa clay bluffs that are prone to slips.  Farming such country is a challenge and using horses in the back country in those days were a necessity.

My friend Cliff saddled me up a horse and we went riding to the back of the farm with mobs of feral goats scattering ahead of us.  They were, and remain, a serious pest.

I recall two other abiding memories from that time:  the bone-chilling cold of a winter's morning with heavy dew hanging off the wire fences, and the local country dance which took place in the Whangamomona hall.  The dance band consisted of a guitarist/vocalist,  a Hawaiian (slide) guitar player and a drummer.  They haled from Stratford and had travelled inland for the evening's event.

Lots of brown beer bottles were in evidence as were the rows of gumboots left at the hall door.  The supper was stupendous!

They were happier, community times and a life that is fast disappearing from the provinces.  Whangamomona faded fast but was reborn as a 'Republic' a few years ago and now has a thriving backpacker clientele.

My school mate Cliff went on to become New Zealand's Mastermind, a commercial pilot and a radio DJ in Whakatane.

The hospitality of his parents and the care-free times we had in the early Sixties remain pleasant memories.

"Back Through The Gates" - A Boarders Memoir Published

Back Through The Gates by Roger Smith

I have finally put pen to paper and recorded some of the hijinks I go up to at boarding school in New Plymouth!

A direct link to the book can be found here.

Sakura - A Blast from the Past

When yodeling was Queen.

Another Sixties Icon Passes On

Crispian St. Peters, a British pop singer of the ’60s best known for his buoyant hit “Pied Piper” and his soulful version of “You Were on My Mind,” has died at his home in Swanley, Kent, England. He was 71.

The Quest For Pop Immortality

This is a band called The Quests who had their first hit, an instrumental called 'Shanty' in 1964.  As with many bands at that time they started playing cover versions of The Shadows (video below).

The name of the band was derived from the school magazine of the Queenstown Secondary Technical School, located in a part of Singapore where I now live.

They were joined for a while by an Ex-British serviceman Keith Locke on lead vocals.  I still enjoy their musicianship although the songs are nearly fifty years old.

Beatles To Bowie

As a 'child of the sixties' I am interested to learn that the National Portrait Gallery in London is featuring an exhibition of the decade.
A very good online gallery can be seen here.