"I like to knit. Sometimes I can knit and read at the same time and I do that often."
Mrs Hopkins lives in an apartment unit that has a balcony where she said she could call to people below and watch what they were up to.
She has lived at Bob Owens for about two years and previously lived at Ocean Shores Village in Mount Maunganui.
Daughter Shirley Pemberton, Mrs Hopkins' only child, said her mother still had some measure of independence but help was there when needed.
Mrs Hopkins no longer cooks for herself but goes downstairs for dinner, afternoon tea and morning tea.
She also has high tea at 5.30pm "and that's always nice".
Her breakfast is brought to her in the mornings and she loves porridge.
"I love a big basin of porridge with plenty of brown sugar on it. It's beautiful."
Mrs Hopkins was born in England and she met her late husband Bert when she was 14 and he was 16. They were married for 77 years until Mr Hopkins passed away at the age of 101.
When they arrived in New Zealand in 1948 with their daughter, they were in their 40s and had seen many changes in the world and two world wars.
Mrs Hopkins passed a scholarship for very fine needlepoint when she was young and went on to work in Bond St in London.
She would make clothes for the "ladies as they thought they were", often women who lived overseas.
When they first arrived in New Zealand, Mrs Hopkins had a sewing job and worked part-time for a year, mainly to meet people and make friends.
Mrs Hopkins has two granddaughters and two great-grandsons.
"We're just waiting for her to be a great-great-grandmother but they won't get cracking," Mrs Pemberton said.
There has been a long line of "long livers" in Mrs Hopkins's family - her grandmother lived into her 90s, which was unusual in those days.
When asked about her secret to her long life, Mrs Hopkins said: "I have no secret. I'm just hanging on all the time."
Mrs Hopkins is not having a party for her birthday this year because she is "not a party girl" and "couldn't care less about it".
However, she will have afternoon tea with her family on her birthday and her friends at Bob Owens had an afternoon tea for her on Friday.
"Last year there was a big village party for her because I think they thought that it would be the last, but I think they've realised she's holding on and they've toned it down this year," Mrs Pemberton said.
