When Meryl Robertson was born back in 1913 Grahamstown had just been renamed Onerahi and people living in the seaside suburb could catch trains to Whangarei.
She grew up in a world different to today's, recalling a school on Matakohe-Limestone Island, dances in the Portland Hall and people picking up coal alongside the railway line at Onerahi to reduce their home fuel bills.
In the past century man has made it to the moon and on Saturday Meryl - now great-grandmother Meryl Eyles - celebrated her 100th birthday at the Jane Mander Retirement Village in Whangarei.
Her daughter, Raewyn Massey, said that Meryl had lived in Ewing Rd and in other places on the eastern side of Whangarei until she moved to the retirement village after injuring herself in falls in 2011.
"Mum now doesn't have to cross a bridge to get into the city," Raewyn said.