Former policeman Luther Toloa has thrown away his wristwatch and has reverted to island time, taking his first visit back "home" to Tokelau since leaving as a youngster. He doesn't quite know how long he will be away. "We fly to Samoa and it's supposed to be a 24-hour boat ride fromthere, but that could extend to 36 hours and our stay could be a week, or two weeks." Luther wouldn't be the slightest bit lonely though as he is taking "all the kids and grandkids too" to meet up with old uncles and aunts he hasn't seen since he was at primary school. He came to New Zealand in 1965 on a sponsored education trip, living at Homeleigh, which was run by the Methodist Church, and attended Masterton Intermediate School and later Wairarapa College. His entry to the police force was prompted in rather unusual fashion. Legendary Masterton police Sergeant Ric Bos caught him in Matties Billiard Parlour while he was still at school and gave him one of his customary dressing downs. The message somehow struck a chord and the young Toloa decided on a career in the force. He was to serve for many years in South Auckland and Central Auckland before moving back to Masterton where he eventually became head of the CIB. On retirement he went into business and served as a Masterton District councillor but until now had never returned to his island home. He won't be going to Tokelau empty-handed, either. The Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Referees Association has loaded him down with surplus rugby jerseys to gift to the Tokelauans. The tiny island nation is a dependency of New Zealand and loves rugby, having recently fielded a team in the South Pacific Sevens tournament. Its rugby players have another link to Wairarapa apart from Luther and the jerseys. One of the Sevens coaches is a former Wairarapa College student, Tavita Teao, who has returned to live in Tokelau, and who played here under the tutorship of the late Roger Dee.
