Olive, 107, and still dancing

Olive Oldfield might be 107 years old but that didn't stop her offering to show this reporter a few dance moves during her birthday interview.

Believed to be Northland's oldest person, Mrs Oldfield celebrated the milestone with a combined Christmas and birthday party at the Bay of Islands rest home where she lives with plenty of family, friends, music and cake.

Her recipe for longevity is simple: lots of dancing, gardening and living a "decent life". By that she means no drinking, smoking, swearing or "naughty stories".

Born in Auckland in 1906, Mrs Oldfield and her seven siblings grew up on Great Barrier Island where her father worked at a timber mill. Her oldest memories are of swimming and high-diving off the wharf as an 8-year-old, 99 years ago. She also recalls learning to sew her own dresses at the age of 12.

Mrs Oldfield moved to Northland in 1940 with her husband and two children to manage the Ngawha Spa Hotel, later buying a 180ha farm where Ngawha Prison stands today.

They returned to Auckland in 1948 where her lifelong passion for music and dancing, the foxtrot especially, led her to start two social clubs, one of which is still going today.

She was approaching her 80s when she fell in love with and bought a property on Whangarei's Lookout Hill. At the tender age of 89, she returned to the North, lived in a caravan while her house was built, gardened obsessively and looked after her cattle and two donkeys until she had to move into a rest home at the age of 98.

Mrs Oldfield clocked up her 107th year on December 4 and now lives at Radius Baycare in Haruru Falls. She has four grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.

Daughter Rosemary Puddle, of Paihia, said her mother's short-term memory was poor but she could recall most details from the past. She was in reasonably good health and in full command of her sense of humour.

"She spent most of her birthday party making little humorous digs at her grandchildren," she said.

Mrs Oldfield is likely to be Northland's oldest person but, with no official way of checking, we can't be sure.

Maudie Wilson of Invercargill was until recently thought to be New Zealand's oldest person. She died in October aged 110.

Florence Finch lived even longer, reaching 113 when she died in Hastings in 2007. Last year, Bob Edwards of Ngataki, north of Kaitaia, became the country's oldest driver when he renewed his licence at the age of 104.

According to Statistics New Zealand, there are currently 500-600 New Zealanders aged 100 or older. The estimated number aged 105 or older, however, is just 20-40.

If you know a Northlander older than Olive, let us know by emailing reporters@northernadvocate.co.nz or calling (09) 4702 875.