Wellington - Raison d’etre - Road Trip Continued

"Wellington, Raison d’etre", perhaps a bit of a pretentious statement... but true nevertheless.

Our road trip was designed to be there in time

For two seventieth  birthdays.

Once again the “6 Degrees of Separation” kicks in. 

Instead of the Kevin Bacon theory, it appears for us, it is the “Lever Bros Connection”

The Lab Staff  Lever Bros circa 1964 Above from the right Frances, Derrick and Moi

Through my friend Frances Hansen, (who started at Lever Bros a week before me), 

I reconnected with people I knew from HVHS. 

She was dating Gerry, he was great friends with George, Dave B and Dave V and Marty. 

All Wainuiomata chaps.  Don't they sound like a rock group!

We became a gang and hung out together. 

Gerry played in a band called The Corvairs. 

This was in 1961, pre Beatles. The influence… more like the Shadows, Cliff and The Beach boys etc.

This was the era of Youth Clubs, which were huge in Lower Hutt.

Most exciting one was called The Capistrano, great venue for all of the emerging bands. 

Each Sunday afternoon, hundreds of Teenagers put on their Glad Rags and off to the Youth Club.

There was always at least 3 bands each Sunday.

The Premiers, The Skyrockets. The Librettos and Many more.

Some times bands came from out of town. 

Namely one Ray Columbus and the Invaders from Christchurch

Bands as far away as Palmerston North even.

So exciting to be a teenager then.

Life was all about us really. The Baby Boomers.

(Mind you isn’t life always about Teenagers of any Time?)

The Corvairs ran Saturday Night Dances.

Frances and I joined by Anne Duncan, ('her' from the secretarial part of Lever Bros, mmm... we were Technical)  sold bottles of Coke to the Punters.

With the advent of the Twist, it didn’t matter if you were man less…

Girls started dancing together. You didn’t need a partner.

If you were fairly slick on the Dance floor, you also attracted boys.

Perfect…

Much better than the wallflower situation in previous years, at the Town Hall Dances

Remember when girls sat around the edge of the hall and the boys milled around the end, everyone sussing each other out.

Boys popping outside for an illegal beer and everyone smoking cigarettes. So sophisticated.

Sorry I digressed.

Anyway the dances were a great success

Meanwhile, The Wainui Boys thought it would be a great idea to start up a Youth Club over the Hill.

Wainui, being The Nappy Valley of the 1940’s and 50's, meant there was a surplus of budding teens with nothing to do. What better way to entertain them.

There was always at least 2 bands and The Corvairs were regulars

I was invited to join the committee, which ran the club. It was great fun.

Toasted Sandwiches and Coca Cola being food of choice.

Just an aside, in 1963, with the huge success of the Beatles and the other Liverpool groups, the Corvairs decided to change their line up.

Alex Neil gave up the guitar and became the lead singer, 

(John McCready signed him up for Philips Records, he recorded a couple of singles)…

They needed a lead guitar, so they employed a young lad, just returned from the UK, Dale Wrightson, 

he was in advertising and worked at Inglis Wright.

Mind you, employed wasn’t exactly the right word. Hardly anyone was professional those days. 

They all had day jobs, which they couldn’t afford to give up!

Very sophisticated, was Dale, he had played in a band in London,  
He had lived and gone to school in London. How glamorous and enticing is that?

He was very trendy, handsome and caught the eye of a Petone girl. Guess who?

The rest is history

The plot thickens.

To get back to the point of the visit, Dave B has turned 70 and here we all are. 50 years later

Well most of us, sadly, Dave V died quite a few years ago. 
He would have loved this.

From the left, George, Gerry, Dave B, Moi, Dale and Anne

  

To carry on with the " 6  Degrees", theory, when Dale started at Inglis Wright as the Office Boy, he managed to be accepted by the creative Guns at the agency, 
Terry Christie, Pete Burt and also, Marty one of The Wainui Lot.

These friendships, have remained really strong all of these years.
Even ended up in business together.

Terry and his wife Barbara (she worked at Inglis Wright as well), below

 were our hosts for our Wellington visit. 
They now, like us, live in an apartment right in the City. 
Fantastic.

You can walk everywhere, almost.

Back to the event…after a small nap, we put on our Glad rags and off to Dave B’s birthday party.

Dave and Diana, also have an apartment in the City.

A Penthouse no less, very smart.

It was very exciting, reuniting with our friends.

We had a fabulous time. There is nothing like spending time with people, who knew you when you were young.

In 2010, I organized a reunion, pictures seen my blog click here. A great success. Think we might do it again this year. While we can still walk, talk , make sense and hear!

Diana and Dave are great hosts.

Above Dave's son Pete, brother Chris with his wife Christina. How did they manage that?
Below
The Three Wise Men?
50 years of Friendship
Who would have thought?

 Birthday Boy Mr B, looking good.

We had fabulous food and loads of wine. Loved the Moet. Plus the beautiful Blackrock Rd Wine
Grown, cooked and bottled by Diana, Dave and their winemaker. How cool to be drinking your own wine

Speeches next, of course, can't shut this lot up for long
George ,relating one of the many stories from the past. As we tend to do when we get together.

 These stories still make us laugh, even though we have heard them a thousand times

They even put on a firework display.

Bit chilly in Wellington, of an evening

George and Chris, Dave's Brother were Our "Firebugs of the Evening"
The neighbours were entranced as well

Fantastic
Dave's right of reply

 When you stop laughing you might as well be dead