CENTENARIAN: George McAlonan has seen huge change in hid life. PHOTO/SUPPLIED 120914xx1.JPG
Why pay some advertising hot shot to extol New Zealand's uniqueness when George McAlonan's already done it for you?
Despite British-born George's penning these words more than 70 years ago, those pocketing mega bucks to promote the world's most far-flung country can't better them.
George wrote: "I longed for the Pacific surf and those miles of golden beaches where often no other soul could be seen, for the still untouched hills covered in bush . . . the huge ferns growing to the water's edge, the variety of scenery, the thermal activity, the laid-back lifestyle, the climate, the people - the sum total of the New Zealand experience itself."
They're as enduring as their author who turns 100 on Tuesday and while not as sprightly as he once was (who is?) he gives daily thanks for the country that captivated him as a schoolboy poring over copies of the Auckland Weekly News that found their way to south London.
A picture of a drover on a bush track with his horses and dogs convinced the young George he wanted to be there, doing that. At 15, he was on his way, arriving in Auckland on June 3, 1930.
Although it was some time before he made landfall in the thermal region, George and his late wife Connie discovered it in the 1950s, falling in love with the then remote Lake Tarawera and its volcanic mountain.
The couple bought a tract of scrub-covered land beside Spencer Rd and, for the next 20 years, commuted fortnightly from their Auckland home to spend weekends at "the lake", hand-clearing, then replanting their property in native seedlings.
It was tough going, they bunked down in a cottage on Connie's sister's neighbouring property, their five children spilling out into tents.
The McAlonans didn't take permanent root in Tarawera until George retired. The house they built was called Whare-o-Tane in honour of the Maori god of the forest.
For George, Tarawera was the idyll of his childhood imaginings. Of it he says: "One of its chief charms is that it's still nearly all wilderness and apart from the residential strip and a couple of camping spots the rest of the shoreline's untouched, with magnificent pohutukawa growing to the water's edge.
"It's always been a really nice community of friends with the Ratepayers' Association AGM the best attended in the Rotorua district, there were never less than 200 there."
George knows a thing or two about the Tarawera Ratepayers' Association, at one stage he was its temporary chairman and served on the committee for years.
He was the organisation's conservation spokesman and, as an avid fisherman, sat on the fishing sub-committee. His son, Chris, has a 15lb (6.8kg) rainbow George caught at the Te Wairoa steam mouth displayed in his Rotorua home.
George was also Tarawera's volunteer fire brigade's first treasurer.
As his family puts it Tarawera's the place where the centenarian's heart's always remained.
His 40-year association with the area aside, there's an earlier slice of his life story that parallels international history. World War I had just begun when George was born.
His is a unique connection. When "Kaiser Bill's" (King Wilheim 11) sword rattling against the English began his British parents were forced to abandon the thriving Turban Tea Company they'd established in Berlin and flee.
They arrived in London three weeks after hostilities commenced, George arrived three weeks later.
"Many of my earliest memories are war-time ones, sheltering in the basement of our home as bombs fell from airships," George recounts.
Although only 2 at the time, he's convinced he saw the first Zeppelin to be downed over British soil as it was shot down in flames.
The horror of war apart, George's family suffered a dreadful tragedy of their own - his mother died two weeks after his sister's birth.
"Our grieving family were given strength and support by our loving paternal grandparents who devoted their life to work with the Salvation Army."
But it was through the Church of England Settlement Organisation that he came to New Zealand; George was sent to work on a Hauraki Plains dairy farm. "The owners treated me like a son, certainly not the case for some other young immigrants at the time."
His surrogate father was well-known bass singer of the era, John Wakeham. Recognising George's own vocal talent, he recommended he return to London to study at the Guildhall School of Music.
"To fund it I needed to work but after two years juggling jobs and lessons I was told my studies wouldn't progress unless I devoted myself to them full time, the reality was I couldn't afford it I was disappointed, but happy to come back."
It was during those Guildhall years that George penned his longing for the place that, for him, had remained a magnetic draw card.
He returned in October, 1938, re-joining the Wakehams, by then living in Papatoetoe and with a pretty young neighbour called Connie.
"She caught my eye, we were soon walking home together after singing in the church choir."
The couple married in 1941, spending 68 years together.
Much as we've always scoffed at the inevitable "secret to your longevity" question hurled at those who've reached centenarian status we're compelled to ask it.
George's answer's as straightforward as the man himself.
"A healthy diet with as much fresh produce as possible, it's the foundation of good health, and a decent sized nip or two of a good single malt hasn't gone amiss either."
¦Our People acknowledges with gratitude the McAlonan family's invaluable help compiling this tribute to their father.
GEORGE McALONAN
Born: London, 1914.
Education: Winchmore Hill Primary, Latymer School (founded 1624).
Family: Late wife Connie, two sons, three daughters (one deceased), 16 grandchildren, 25 (almost) great grandchildren.
Interests: Family, fishing, classical music, macro-photography, a naturopathic lifestyle, environmental issues, breeding great danes.
On his life: "I've been witness to extraordinary change from horse-drawn hansom cabs to the internet."