Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Summer Catch-up: Retired Otumoetai College principal Dave Randell's first year off school

Zoe Hunter
By Zoe Hunter
Bay of Plenty Times·
25 Dec, 2018 12:00 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Dave Randell retired from Otumoetai College last year. This was his first year in retirement.

There's something different about Dave Randell.

His phone isn't buzzing every 30 seconds, he's not typing furiously at his keyboard and he's not in his suit.

Instead, the retired principal is dressed in his T-shirt and shorts and the weight of managing Tauranga's largest college has been lifted off his shoulders.

Life has completely changed for the former Otumoetai College principal since closing the doors on 17 years at the school last December. This year was his first taste of retirement.

Randell's alarm used to sound at 5.20am on a week day, he would be out the door by 5.40am, at the gym a short while after, but back home by 6.30am in time for a quick breakfast and shower before the school bell rang.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

At his desk, his inbox would blink with 90-something emails.

His electronic address book counted about 5000 contacts, 270 of those phone numbers associated with school.

Now, he says he's lucky to get half a dozen messages to his personal email and his address book is much more manageable.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I actually felt a little depressed because all of a sudden you're not getting at work by just after 7am, and an 11-hour day is a typical day - it's a good day," he said.

"I found it hard at the beginning. Your life was just cut."

Randell says it probably took him the first six months to get into the swing of retirement.

"I was so tired initially, I would sleep a lot. I think it was the mental strain," he said.

Discover more

School farewells Dave Randell

01 Nov 01:52 AM

School farewells principal of 17 years

01 Nov 08:00 PM

Principals hear the 'purr' of engines on big day out

25 Nov 03:00 AM

One-on-one: Dave Randell

04 Dec 05:02 AM

But he read up on retirement and learned to make daily goals. "I've actually never been busier, funnily enough," he says.

The new Dave Randell gets to the gym at a reasonable hour, sleeps in until past 7am, has time to eat breakfast and do a quiz with his wife, Jude, before she goes to work at the local health shop.

He walks with Jude every morning before breakfast and now has the time to read a newspaper. "It is little things like that that just make a quality of life," he says.

The 70-year-old has even built a retaining wall for his garden, where he now spends most days pruning the roses and trimming the trees.

He also started a coffee group with former Otumoetai College staff. The principal informs me the group's name is spelt Koffee - because they don't have to worry too much about grammar any more.

"We don't talk about school at all," he says. "We may reminisce - you talk about achievements over the years but more as a person rather than as a staff member."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Apart from weekly coffee catch-ups, the majority of Randell's new-found time is dedicated to family.

Twice a week he goes to Rotorua to visit his 91-year-old mother, who is ill, and, for the first time this year, his grandchildren came to stay during the school holidays.

Granddad Dave also now attends sports awards and got to see his granddaughter graduate from primary school to intermediate.

"For the first time this year I went to Granddad's Day," he says, with a tear in his eye.

That is already one item ticked off the bucket list.

"We wanted to see all our grandchildren every year and we have done that this year already."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Next on the list was travel - and just this year he and Jude have travelled to Fiji and taken a train ride across Australia on the Indian Pacific.

His browser history already has links to his next adventure.

But now that time was starting to suit him, Randall says he will never forget the school or its students.

"I miss the people. I miss the kids, I miss the ratbags, I miss the commitment."

Dave Randell's education career:
- Completed teacher training at the then College of Education in Auckland in 1970
- Gained his first teaching position at Rotorua Lakes High School, where he spent 17 years
- Held principal roles at Taihape College and Melville High School throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s
- Became principal at Otumoetai College in October 2000
- Retired 2017

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

10 Jul 06:13 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

10 Jul 06:03 AM
Bay of Plenty TimesUpdated

'Highly venomous': Deadly sea snake washes up on Coromandel beach

10 Jul 05:38 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

'Current hotspot': Back-to-back national titles for Tauranga basketballers

10 Jul 06:13 AM

The Under-18 and Under-20 women's teams won their championships.

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

Kaitiaki fight pathogen endangering iconic Mauao pōhutukawa

10 Jul 06:03 AM
'Highly venomous': Deadly sea snake washes up on Coromandel beach

'Highly venomous': Deadly sea snake washes up on Coromandel beach

10 Jul 05:38 AM
Heavy rain warning likely for BoP – MetService

Heavy rain warning likely for BoP – MetService

10 Jul 12:40 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP
search by queryly Advanced Search