Louisa Milton turns 100 today. Photo/John Borren
Louisa Milton will be walking herself to her 100th birthday party today.
The Bethlehem Views Rest Home resident lived on her own and mowed her own lawns well into her 90s and even now makes her way to and from the rest home dining room unassisted.
"The lawns kept me out of mischief," she said.
Son Murray Jackson said a doctor told his mother her heart was in perfect working condition after a recent check-up.
"She'll probably see us all out," he laughed.
Mrs Milton was born on March 20, 1914, and was raised in Mapua, Nelson as the second of three children.
She attended Nelson Girls College and moved to Rotorua in her early 20s to work as a housekeeper on a sheep and beef farm.
It was there she met and married her first husband, Jim Jackson.
They farmed a sheep station in Kaharoa where their three children, Peter, Murray and Judy, were born and raised.
The couple sold the farm and moved to Rotorua city to enjoy their retirement about 1962.
Mr Jackson died in 1967 at the age of 50.
The sudden death of her husband did not slow Mrs Milton down.
In the following years she and a friend left for Australia and worked their way around the country.
During her travels she met Terry Milton who she married in 1970.
They lived in Kawerau when they first married and moved back to Rotorua when Mr Milton retired.
Mrs Milton said she had kept herself fit and healthy through her love of gardening and tennis.
Mr Jackson said his mother enjoyed a glass of wine most days and used to drink a glass of cider vinegar and water every day which may have contributed to her long life.
But Mrs Milton was not so convinced.
"I don't think there's any secret. I've just plodded along from day to day."
Mrs Milton now has six grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren.
He says it's 'no wonder' city has a housing crisis if it's this hard to build three homes.