Today, Mr Harvey will celebrate the milestone with family and friends at Mills Reef Winery. There he will open the remainder of his birthday cards including messages from the Queen, Prime Minister John Key, Governor-General Lt Gen The Rt Hon Sir Jerry Mateparae, and Tauranga MP Simon Bridges.
Mr Harvey renewed his driver's licence just days ago.
The woman signing it off couldn't quite believe it, he said.
"She was quite excited. It was the first time she'd renewed a licence for a near 100-year-old.
"So, I've got until I'm 102. It's my Scottish heritage, I want to get my money's worth," he said before cracking into another chortle.
Mr Harvey prefers to walk around his neighbourhood, but still drives his car around Tauranga now and then.
Laser surgery on his bright blue eyes has meant he does not even require glasses for the trips.
Weekday meals are supplied to him from Radius Matua Lifecare and good neighbours help keep an eye on things but Mr Harvey still keeps an immaculate house.
"I might have to think about a fulltime caregiver to give me more freedom," he said.
Mr Harvey said he enjoys "pottering" around his workshop, tinkering with a range of electrics, including a homemade television. He also enjoys people, meeting the new and catching up with the old.
People were a big reason he enjoyed cruises so much. Travel was good for the soul, he said.
"There's nowhere I haven't been."
Son Peter Harvey junior said the big birthday was a remarkable achievement made especially so by his father's activity and independence.
Peter, 73, took early retirement and moved into Ocean Shores Retirement Village several years ago.
"I think people have the wrong perception of retirement villages," he said.
"You are living independently and if you go away for three to four months, when you come home the lawns are done, the gardening is done. It's just like you left yesterday," he said.
Of his father, Peter said Mr Harvey had always done everything in moderation, which he believed help contribute to the 100th birthday.
