With some help from a walker, birthday girl Jemima King makes her way along the hallway with ease – her purple slippers padding quietly across the carpet.
She has done plenty of walking in her 105 years.
"That's what your legs are for," she says matter of factly. "Use them. If you don't use it, you lose it."
She is quick and witty and full of life.
King is a resident at Melrose Retirement Village on Waihi Rd in Tauranga.
She celebrated her remarkable birthday milestone yesterday with cake, flowers and cards from the Queen, the Prime Minister and the Governor General.
It is her second birthday card from Her Majesty.
"I don't mind, doesn't make much difference. She probably doesn't know anything about it," King says with a little laugh when asked about her royal birthday wishes.
She moved to Wellington at the age of 16 from the Shetland Islands north-east of Scotland.
Her father was a ship captain and liked being at sea, King says, and her mother's birthdays were some of the most memorable moments in her life.
Every year they did something nice.
"She was very good looking; everywhere we went somebody always gave her a seat. And then they would stand there and all stare at her. She tried not to take any notice of it."
King trained as a hairdresser in her late teens and early 20s and had a hairdressing business in Wellington.
She moved to Tauranga in the 1980s to retire.
"Everybody is asking me what the secret is," she replies when asked by this reporter how to live as long as she has.
After a bit more pushing she reveals one tip, and then a piece of advice.
"I think the only thing I had was oatmeal. I liked having oatmeal because my grandfather was very strong and all he ever ate was oatmeal. Every day he had oatmeal."
King says she does not think about her age and does not feel any different.
"You just go on living day after day. But oatmeal is good for you," she reminds me again.
"Oats," she then emphasises one more time, before telling a funny story about a horse that would not work unless he got his oats.
"Very sensible," she says to conclude the story.
Her niece, Norma Grice, is at the 105th birthday celebration and says, "It's marvellous".
The 82-year-old, who lives at Greenwood Park Retirement Village in Hairini, says she and her aunt have had a long, close relationship and see each other about once a week.
She describes King as very talented and gifted artistically and musically, "and very feisty".
Grice repeats the last attribute again for effect and says the feistiness has not disappeared completely.
"It shows from time to time."
She says her aunt does miss her sight and her hearing – which have both almost gone now – and appreciates the care she receives at Melrose.
Meanwhile, King has one more piece of advice to give before heading to lunch.
"You can't help getting old. You just go along with it, whatever comes. If you relax and just go along with it, it won't hurt you. It's when you get all uptight, that's when you hurt yourself. Just relax – it will come, and it will go."
The interview finishes, some photos are taken and then she's up and off walking back down the hallway towards the dining room.
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