Recreating Childhood Memories – from Cape Reinga to Bluff
Cheryl loved to take part in the wild adventures too. A young Richard and Cheryl.
Richard towing son Shaun.
BY JODI BRYANT
Deanna and her siblings’ 1980s childhood was full of outdoor Northland adventure provided by their fun-seeking, doting parents.
T
hese experiences, now firmly etched in their memories, are illustrated with the many moments captured by their mother Cheryl who, lovingly compiled albums with the photos she took of her husband Richard and their four children. The albums, hand-written with captions, along with the memories, are held dear to the Lee children today after tragically lly losing their beloved parents in a car crash nearly three years ago. Cheryl and Richard Lee – both well-known and loved across the community, were killed in a head-on collision while on their trip of a lifetime in America. Cheryl was the manager of the i-SITE, Te Manawa The Hub and Claphams ams Clock Museum and Richard was as the operations co-ordinator
The Lee kids off to school in Australia. (From left): Hayden, Deanna, Zane and Shaun.
for the Whangārei District Council Venues and Events team until 2016. For Deanna, now Gerlach and with a young family of her own, being locked down across the Tasman last year, following the loss, prompted her to recreate some of those adventures she fondly remembered. And so, a brave and wild idea was born. Within months, Deanna, with wi her husband Tom, embarked upon walking the em length of New Zealand with le their three kids - Juno, 12, th Joplin, 10 and Goldie – then Jo five. In November, they set off fi to undertake Te Araroa Trail with Goldie emerging the wi youngest known person to complete it. The former Whangārei Girls’ High School graduate left for Otago University in
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1996 before moving to Australia in 2001. There she met Australian Tom while working as tour guide climb leaders on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the couple, with their subsequent children, would travel to New Zealand to visit the kids’ grandparents at least once a year. “Experiencing depression after they died in that car accident in the States a few years ago was one of my motivators for having a crack at the trail,” says Deanna. “I wanted to honour their sense of adventure and risk-taking by giving our kids the opportunity that they gave us on that trip around Australia.” The family spent a year travelling around Australia in an old panel van which her parents slept in the back of while the four kids shared the caravan. “Mum and dad loved travelling. To save money, they often camped and went on road trips together in their van, sleeping in the back on a mattress. “Dad was adventurous and mum loved
to travel. We grew up on low-budget outdoor adventures - many things would be considered unsafe these days, but that’s just how it was back in the 80s - around the Whangārei area. Home was Kara where mum’s folks had a farm that we managed and then onto Maungatapere where we had a hobby farm. Dad’s folks lived at McLeod Bay. We split time between working on the farm on weekends or playing out at the coast. “On the west coast, we’d spend the day or camp overnight on Baylys Beach. We’d go out there to try out the latest toys dad had built from spare parts in the shed - riding bikes, motorbikes, land yachts, even hang gliding. Dad used to pull us along in the hang glider with a rope - running first to get us to practice and then a gentle tow behind the car. Mum loved it too. Dad still used to fly his hang glider in his 60s. He had to wait until conditions were perfect otherwise mum would be terrified. “On the east coast, we’d go out to Gray
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