Hosts

Gerry has organised many cultural events in Auckland and whenever  the media need a heritage expert they ring him. He beavered away at the Council until they renamed a small park near us Bishop Pompallier Park  and a performance area after an old Ponsonby identity, Betty Wark as  well as a historic plaque put on a house where Michael Joseph Savage lived. In 2008 we organised a tribute which was attended by over a hundred people, to Hone Tuwhare,  New Zealand’s favourite poet.

Both of us have been on the board of the Ponsonby Community Centre  and were instrumental in new rooms being named after local characters: Freda Stark a dancer, Flora McKenzie, a madam, Johnny Mitchell a community leader and a sadly missed pub, the Gluepot. We are also founding members of Oxfam NZ and Friends of the Auckland Festival.

In 2006 Gerry organised a Heritage Festival in Ponsonby with over thirty events  which included Bryan Williams and other veteran All Blacks playing an exhibition game. There were also walks talks and concerts.

Sally studied print making and is an avid art collector. In another life she taught ESL in high schools.  These days the gym and swimming pool take up most spare time not given to reading thrillers. Both are committed to a sustainable environment.

We lead a Ponsonby lifestyle of food and wine. We can  be found listening to live music, or at gallery openings in Ponsonby or concerts and theatre in the city.

We are lucky to have  many small beaches within walking distance so in summer spend  warm evenings swimming with our dog who is more reluctant than we are.

We try to travel each year because we love the experiences and the people  we meet in all parts of the world.  We are also very widely travelled in the Pacific and know our own country like the backs of our hands.