HUMANS OF ŌTAUTAHI
Murray
TUAHIWI & AROWHENUA
“I was born in Christchurch, but I started “When the building started getting going, it from the bottom of the South Island when I was [when] the cowboys came in. Robbed was a young fella. Mum and Dad had farms everybody of their money, you had to go back in Cromwell, Wanaka, Tarras. When Mum and fix people’s houses. That really cheesed me and Dad retired, they retired to Timaru. I off. A cobber and me – we were partners – while worked for a building firm in Timaru for we were doing one house, we got a guy in to do years. I worked mostly up here, and ah, got a some piling. He took good piles out and put old wee farm down in Timaru, my house burned piles in and took them away. Cowboys! down, so I thought I might as well come up “I go round the suburbs, and other places here to work. and I see a big change. Where I live, I can go “I moved here fourteen years ago, but I’ve one block – I’m only two streets over from the worked in Christchurch for the last 30 years. Avon – and there’s nothing where it used to be Well, I worked for the firm that built the suburbs. I went out to the beach this morning, stadium, the AMI stadium. That’s now gone. to New Brighton. All that was houses, it’s gone. Yeah, we did a lot of work up here. I got shipped The biggest change is the people; people are up here; there were about half a dozen of totally different. I’ve seen it over the years. us. We had a house up here, but you worked They’re not as trustworthy as they used to be. with the guys all day. You didn’t want to stay “Now I’m retired, doing as little as possible, with them all night as well! I can go around doing my gardens, growing my plants, and Christchurch and say I built the foundations of mowing my lawns. I go to the beach, yeah, I that. The old courthouse, [I] did all that up. just like travelling around. I’m happy being “Since the earthquakes, I have repaired up here. When I leave, they can carry me back heaps and heaps of houses in Christchurch, to Temuka and bury me there! But I won’t be the last 10 to 11 years. leaving here for a long time.” facebook.com/humansofchch 64
