SOFI PUA strolls past the colourful collection of shops on Surrey Cres, nodding to a woman getting out of her car and shaking hands with a man who appears to be an old friend.
Mr Pua knows Grey Lynn well. Regarded as the local historian, he grew up in the
area. His parents migrated from Samoa in the 1950s and moved into a huge two-storey home in Scanlan St in the 1960s.
Although many in his family have moved on, his ties to the area remain strong. He has watched the suburb, once known as Surrey Hill, go from housing working-class immigrant families to what he describes as middle-class professionals. "There was always a real mix of cultures when I was growing up," he says. "You had the hippies that used to sell us organic fruit. They'd drop off our potatoes and ride off on the back of the truck doing the whole 'peace brother' thing.
"Mum used to have all these friends who'd come home with her from the factory. I remember them all trying to speak English because none of them shared the same first language. The beauty was we all lived together."
Glancing up Williamson Ave, a street now lined with a higglety-pigglety mix of rundown old villas and their revamped neighbours, he says that descendants of those original families find it hard to comprehend that their parents grew up there.
"There's a generation of Pacific people who don't believe we lived in Ponsonby and Grey Lynn because of the way it looks today.
"But I like it that I can still walk along here and buy taro from the shops," he says, gesturing towards a small grocer whose produce spills
on to the footpath.
However, he says that although some of his childhood friends still live here, owning several houses on one block, many have moved on because of rapid development in the area.
"I've had conversations with some families who say they've felt bullied by new neighbours to do things to upgrade their homes. But I also know people who still love it and want to stay here forever."
Mr Pua says it has been important for his family to retain the history of the place.
"It's part of our culture to know about where we're from and what has happened in the house we live in. It's also a spiritual thing. The last thing you want to do is be living in a house where someone was murdered. And there have been murders here."
His interest and knowledge has led to the Grey Lynn Business Association asking him to run a heritage walk through his old stamping ground, identifying spots that tell of the suburb's cultural heritage and artistic merits. "It's about sharing our history and the connection of the Samoan community here in Grey Lynn," he says of the walk, which ties in with the Auckland Heritage Festival and Grey Lynn's adoption of the Manu Samoan rugby team during the Rugby World Cup.
Beginning at St Joseph's Church on Great North Rd, and making the first stop in front a mural by Nuean-born artist and poet John Pule, Mr Pua says that many creative people and sports stars call Grey Lynn home.
"We've had some, I wouldn't say, scallywags, but some very creative people living here," he says with a chuckle. He mentions his own nephew, Feleti Strickson-Pua from Nesian Mystik. Other notable people who have added character to the area include Dave Dobbyn and Rhys Darby. From the artwork on the corner of the busy intersection, he will meander down Williamson Ave, pointing out streets where artists and sports people greats grew up.
The walk will continue into Grey Lynn Park, a spot he says was the hub of the community when he was growing up. "Grey Lynn Park has a lot of history for our menfolk.
"There have been a lot of guys go into the Kiwi team and play for the Toa Samoa rugby league team.
"It used to be a dump site. It's reclaimed land, so that's why it would get so soaked.
"I can remember there'd be thousands of Pacific Islanders down there watching games."
As we wander past an ostentatious archway, now home to a Subway sandwich bar, he says: "That used to be a theatre called the Cameo."
He smiles and shakes his head before quizzing me as to where I think the boundaries of Grey Lynn run to.
I have a fair idea but I'm not certain.
"Richmond Rd is part of Ponsonby. I get annoyed when I see properties being advertised and they say it's Ponsonby. It's not, it's Grey Lynn." rebecca.blithe@theaucklander.co.nz
WALK INTO HISTORY
Savalivali, the Grey Lynn heritage walk, hosted by Sofi Pua, takes place this Saturday from 12pm to 3pm. For more information visit
www.eventfinder.co.nz
