"I have quite a social life," she said. The 109-year-old fondly remembered her childhood spent with her three sisters and parents on a farm in Clinton, South Otago.
"We had a play house made of several trees with a dome at the top."
The family of six lived in Clinton until Mrs Anderson was 12 .
"People always gravitate towards her. I remember growing up, people said they wished she was their mother," she said.
When asked what the secret is to a long life, Mrs Anderson simply said there was no secret.
"I never think about dying really.
"There's time to be born and a time to die and I don't think you have very much say in that."
She will spend the day celebrating with her friends and family in the home she's lived in for over six decades.
Timeline
• Age 5 - The Titanic sunk • Age 7 - WW I broke out • Age 32 - WW II broke out • Age 46 - Sir Edmund Hilary conquered Everest • Age 62 - First Moon landing • Age 80 - NZ win the Rugby World Cup in Auckland • Age 108 - NZ flag referendum
• The 2013 New Zealand Census recorded three women were 113 years old. •Three women and three men were recorded to be 110 years old. •Three women were 106 years old, three were 107 years old and 108 years old. •While it's not for certain the people recorded would still be alive, a Statistics New Zealand spokesman said Mrs Anderson was "certainly among the oldest in the country".