We drove off the interisland ferry at Lyttelton, Barry and I, in our yellow Studebaker coupe.
We were on our way to Dunedin to purchase and move in to Larnach Castle.
This was before the days of telegraphic transfers and we really did have the money: a bank draft, in a bag, and it had to be at the lawyers' office by 2.30pm.
We flew along State Highway 1. Just past Ashburton, we got a flat tyre.
We got out the pillows, pots and pans from the boot, put them on the side of the road to get at the jack, which didn't fit under the overloaded car.
A farmer saw our plight, lent us his jack, and helped change the tyre. We were on our way.
The deal was completed and we moved in that day. The castle leaked.
The old stone building was cold in its windswept location at the top of a thousand-foot hill.
Why on earth did we buy it, empty and derelict, with grounds overtaken by second growth?
We were from Wellington and had visited the castle just a fortnight before on our South Island holiday.
Barry said to the owner on the doorstep ''I wish it was mine.''
''You can have it,'' Oscar replied. Yes, really. That is how we came to buy the castle.
Barry was interested in tourism, an industry then in its infancy in New Zealand.
It was love at first sight for me. It was the castle's history, its colonial identity. And the workmanship!
I was astounded by craftsmanship in such a farflung site.
I remembered my childhood; the adventure of playing in a large garden and I wanted that for my, as yet unborn, children too.
We brought up two children at the castle, Sophie and Norcombe.
Roofs were fixed, the water supply connected, sewers built. It's not all glamour, you know.
The castle was repaired, cleaned and furnished.
Modern kitchens and accommodation built.
Norcombe and Sophie became part of the business, which went from strength to strength.
Barry lost interest and left the castle.
He died on the 40th anniversary of my best day.
Now, our son Norcombe is executive director of the company.
Sophie is a business development adviser at the DCC Economic Development Unit. I am so proud of them.
Larnach Castle has more than 100,000 visitors a year.
The garden has become world famous; featured in The Gardener's Garden, a sumptuous new book published by Phaedon; a global survey of gardens from the 14th century to the present day.
