Memories of Tauranga

When I was little we used to go camping on a regular basis to Tauranga. It was a different place back then, simple and much less hyped up tourist-commercial. We would put up a tent outside my great grandparents old house, where my dad used to spend many summers growing up, and he would revel in our terror as he recounted his own personal ghost story from when he was young. It was where he was born, and so for that reason, when i moved there 6 years ago it felt like i was going back to my roots. Not really "home" but to a place that I had a connection to.

I went back a couple of days ago, but for a different purpose. Catching up with friends was part of it, but it turns out my ties with this place are much more far reaching than I had imagined. My 3rd great grandparents emigrated from Ireland in 1875 and settled temporarily in Katikati before moving to Tauranga where they lived, died and were buried. I found their headstone two days ago, the place where their mortal remains are, and had a strong sense of something hard to describe, possibly kinship.

Their daughter youngest Mary Ella married the son of a military man, Captain Archibald Turner, who is buried in the old mission cemetery overlooking the harbour bridge, ocean and Mauao. Archibald was a military brat, raised in canada, married an orphaned french girl and dragged his family off to this new country, initially serving in the Maori wars and becoming a surveyor when he was off duty. His oldest son Charles followed in his footsteps, becoming a surveyor and was in the tour group that went to see what remained of the Pink and White terraces after they were destroyed in a volcanic eruption.

While i was in the Tauranga library I noticed they're having a writing competition, called Memories of Tauranga, for true stories to be included in an anthology of stories about Tauranga. I'm sure I could write something decent, since i feel so strongly connected to the place, both on my white and brown side. So the above is some initial thoughts that I have put down as my "pre-writing" phase before I get down to the actual essay I'm going to write. I wish me luck.