Tauranga's Margaret Lambourn celebrates 106th birthday and her 'long, interesting' life

Margaret Lambourn started playing the piano at the age of 12. Photo / Emma Houpt

Margaret Lambourn has always been up for a challenge.

She has run a kindergarten in Kuwait, made wine in Kerikeri and thrown "wonderful" parties in Costa Brava.

And today the "fiercely independent" Tauranga woman is celebrating her 106th birthday.

Margaret was born on a farm near West Yorkshire, England in 1915 and raised with eight other siblings.

At age 12, she gained a scholarship to attend high school, which she says was a "favourite" year in her long life.

"It gave me an education. It was a reason to get up in the morning."

Her favourite subjects were history and literature and she particularly "loved the challenge" of school exams.

Margaret studied to be a nurse, meeting her future husband Alan while working at Royal Berkshire Hospital in 1937.

In 1938, Alan gained a job as the army's chief engineer in Egypt and the couple jumped aboard a ship to Port Said.

Margaret worked as an intelligence decoder for the Royal Air Force before she was ordered to evacuate, along with the other wives, to protect them during World War II.

She initially refused, only leaving after she was forcibly expelled.

So off she went, pregnant and alone except for her pet dog, to a new country in the midst of war. She would not see Alan for another three years.

She arrived in South Africa on Christmas Eve, 1941 and soon gave birth to her daughter Susan.

The couple reunited and moved back to England, where their second son Michael was born in 1945.

In 1950 they were off again, boarding a plane to Kuwait where Alan would be the chief architect for Kuwait Oil Company.

Margaret learnt Arabic and ran a kindergarten from her home, caring for about 15 children daily.

"I remember a little, it is a pretty language to talk.

Margaret Lambourn with her son Michael. Photo / Emma Houpt

"I am a great traveller," said Margaret. "I have had a long, interesting life, with a wonderful family and husband."

Their third son Andrew was born in 1958.

The couple also spent time in Costa Brava, Spain where she threw "great parties".

"It was a lovely life, there was plenty of fruit. We had great parties, one man was found asleep next door under a tree," she said, with a laugh. "I gave wonderful parties. It gave me pleasure."

In the early 1970s, the family moved to New Zealand and settled in Kerikeri where she began making wine and formed the local Meals on Wheels organisation.

"I love New Zealand. England will always be the centre of my life. I miss the people," she said.

In 1989, Alan and Margaret moved to Tauranga's Metlifecare Greenwood Park Retirement Village, where she stayed after Alan died in 2002.

At age 78, she quit her nearly lifelong smoking habit.

"I started smoking when I was about 19, to help me soothe the bad days."

Despite this habit, she believes keeping fit throughout life has contributed to her good health. She was particularly fond of playing tennis.

In June last year, she moved to Hodgson House in Tauranga.

She spends her time tucking into new novels, playing piano and bingo, hanging out with her son Michael and enjoying fish and chips with a glass of white wine every Friday.

"I am an avid reader. I don't like rubbish. I like books that make you think. I have glasses, but I don't need to wear them when I read."

Margaret said she never thought about living to 106 because she was "too busy" enjoying life.

"It is in the luck of the gods. I just live every day as well as I can."

A staff member at Hodgson House said Margaret continued to try to be "fiercely independent".

"Well, why not? I have always enjoyed challenges," said Margaret.

"You have only got one life to live, so you might as well make the best of it."