"I don't think I ever thought about it much, I mean you don't do you, you just get on with it."
Natusch sits in her favourite armchair in her Maungatapu home. Adorning every spare inch on the piano beside her are reminders of the age she celebrated on Thursday - one card even appearing four times.
Well-wishes adorn Mary Natusch's piano. Photo / George Novak
But a card from Queen Elizabeth sits front and centre - the highlight of reaching the milestone age, for Natusch.
Looking out over the Tauranga harbour, she informs me the view is free of charge today. It's here she begins to ponder the 100 past years.
Waikanae, along the Kāpiti Coast, was Natusch's starting point. With three brothers and a sister, life was never dull.
Walking two miles to school each day was no great hardship for her. It was the missed opportunity at the post office she remembers with anguish.
"The school was up on a hill and down below was a post office. When you were the oldest person in your family you were allowed to go and collect the mail each day to take home in your schoolbag.
"I seem to always have brothers older than me so I never got to do that job."
Education is something Natusch is proud of. She was sent to a boarding school in Whanganui, allowing her to have a secondary education. She said it was something not many children had back then.
Mary Natusch celebrated her 100th birthday on Thursday and shares her secret. Photo / George Novak
After spending time helping her mother at home, Natusch eventually went to train as a Karitane nurse in Wellington.
However, as the war came, the Defence Department took over the building and Natusch was sent to Invercargill.
Natusch spent at least one year learning everything there was to know about newborn and baby care, before undertaking four to six months on a practical placement with families in the community.
She met David, a farmhand, when she returned to her hometown and they soon married.
They moved to Feilding before gaining a ballot-farm near Te Puke. They farmed there until 1982 before passing the land on to one of their two sons.
"I've got two daughters, and two sons so that's well sorted."
As a result, there are seven grandchildren and soon to be five great-grandchildren.
But unfortunately, her "mate" as she calls her husband, will not get to meet the one on the way.
David died last year, leaving a big hole in Natusch's life.
"That's a big shock when your mate goes. We were lucky I suppose because we were quite compatible."
But David's part in her life is why she describes her 100 years as being "very fortunate".
