Today was one of those days when everything about it is pretty perfect. I awoke today to a promising sunny day and set off on a brisk walk with Mary and Kelvyn at 7am. We went a different route, which was through the back streets of Waihi and into town because Mary had to post some mail. Waihi is an old mining town and they have recently celebrated their heritage with a series of bronze statues depicting the lives of the people during those mining days.
From there we climbed up to the old pump house where you have an excellent view of the old mine pit. There has been a slip there in recent years and it is now fenced off . The sides of the fence were covered in poppies in commemoration of all the tunnellers from the mines who went to the First World War to construct the tunnels, because of their experience in the mines.
I followed Kelvyn and Mary on a track that goes round the rim of the mine until we eventually branched off and made our way home.
From then on it was full steam ahead for the preparations for the family reunion on my mother’s side, named Porteous, taking place that afternoon. The sun was now shining brightly so Kelvyn sorted out all the seating and cover while Mary and I did last minute preparations with the food. From late morning on various family members began to arrive. There were squeals of delight and hugs as I caught up with some cousins I hadn’t seen for over 50 years. Everybody brought some food to put on the table and in the end there was a magnificent feast.
I gorged myself on corn beef, which Mary’s sister Jenny had brought. This is quite different from the UK concept of Corn Beef. It is proper beef, which is pickled then cooked in a special way. It is absolutely delicious.
After we had all had our fill of food and cleared away it was time to take some photos. I’d happily snapped away from the start. My cousin Cathy arranging flowers from Mary’s garden was rather lovely.
We then took some group photos. There were seven first cousins and three second cousins along with their spouses. My three second cousins all had the same grandmother, Irene, but each had different parents. She had four children, two boys and two girls.
My cousin Howard, who was the only male first cousin there, had done some research on the Porteous ancestry and showed me a picture of the Porteous tartan that his son had managed to trace.
We finished the day with a series of record photos including several of just the seven first cousins.
A very special day.
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