Whatever retirement brings, Diane Robertson is hoping it will include a "proper" holiday, after years of closing the doors for a few days over Christmas.
She and husband Kerry will officially bring the curtain down on Kaitaia firm Apex Plumbers tomorrow afternoon, ending Kerry's 59-year career in the industry.
Originally from Auckland's North Shore, he joined the industry straight from school, working in Auckland, Fiji and South Africa before moving to Kaitaia.
Credit for the fact he and Diane have been part of the town's business community for so long can go to Diane's accountant father Lionel Smith, who let his Kaitaia-born and -bred daughter and her husband know that a plumbing business there was on the market, and might not be a bad investment.
The couple live at Cooper's Beach, and aren't planning to move, but they are well and truly ready to call it quits on their working lives.
