Helen Yuretich, with her husband Stephen and sponsor Rena Parangi, taking the oath of allegiance to become a New Zealand citizen. Photo / Peter Jackson
Helen Yuretich was a fixture at the Far North District Council's farthest-flung outpost for 20 years, until she retired as a librarian a few weeks ago. And on Tuesday she was back at Te Ahu, to take the oath of allegiance to become a New Zealand citizen.
She had been
in New Zealand for 32 years, she said, thanks to her "lovely" husband Stephen, who she met in Perth during the 1986 America's Cup regatta.
Helen Ward was born in Tasmania but grew up in Wales, and was clearly thrilled to make her place in her home of more than three decades official. Not that the morning had gone especially smoothly.
She had broken a shoe and been caught in a shower before the ceremony, and decided that she needed to change to avoid giving the impression of a drowned rat with a limp.
She made it in good time, along with 15 others from 11 countries.
