The arrival of Senior Constable Tracee Knowler at Houhora last week as the new resident police officer was something of a homecoming.
Tracee was born in Kaitaia, the daughter of Irene (nee Carey), now living at Cable Bay, and the late Darrell Knowler, but spent much of her childhood in
Papua New Guinea, where her father worked.
She returned to Kaitaia to complete her secondary education at Kaitaia College.
"Dad also worked on the road from Houhora to the Cape in the '70s and Mum and us kids used to go up to the Cape for holidays, so the people on the peninsula are just about whanau," she said.
She had certainly been welcomed to Houhora like a longstanding friend, taking delivery of potatoes, feijoas, smoked kingfish, flowers and hot muffins in her first few days there, and children from the nearby school had already begun calling in for tours of the police station.
