Mr Auret has four children, two of whom still live in Wanganui, 10 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. The entire family, except for two grandchildren, will be in Wanganui this weekend for Mr Auret's birthday.
"I'm very much looking forward to my birthday celebrations. Actually, they've already started, and they've been most enjoyable so far," Mr Auret said.
He has lived a life less ordinary. In his 100 years he has seen the fall of empires, lived with tribesmen in Afghanistan, hunted man-eating tigers, been a farmer in Kenya ... and talked his way into a teaching job at Wanganui Collegiate.
Mr Auret was born on November 8, 1914, in what was then known as Fort Sanderman, in the Zhob province of India, now part of Pakistan.
Educated in Britain, he and his brother later joined the British India Army.
In the late 1930s Mr Auret was seconded to the Frontier Corps - a specialist unit separate from the British Army - and was charged with keeping order among the tribes that lived on the border between Afghanistan and India [now Pakistan].
"It was not an easy job - there were constant blood feuds among the tribes."
Mr Auret reached the rank of major and had 1000 Pashtuns - Afghani tribesmen - under his command.
He speaks fluent Pashto, Urdu and some Punjabi.
But it all came to an end in 1947 when India gained independence from Britain.
" I was a married man by this stage, but I just didn't know what to do next."
His parents had retired to Kenya, so Mr Auret and his wife followed them and bought a farm.
In the early 1960s it was a case of history repeating itself, as Kenya declared independence and Europeans began leaving the country in the unstable political climate. Mr Auret had heard glowing reports about New Zealand, so decided to bring his family here.
"I arrived by ship in Auckland with my wife and my four children, and I thought, 'Okay, what do I do now?'"
He taught English and geography at Wanganui Collegiate and later Wanganui Boys College [now Wanganui City College].
At the ripe age of 94, Mr Auret wrote and published his biography, called May You Never Be Weary.