The down side of turning 100 was remembering all the things you could no longer do, Belle McGregor says.
Celebrating her 100th birthday with family and friends at Highview Rest Home in Dunedin yesterday, Miss McGregor said she missed playing hockey and tennis.
"It is the sad thing about getting older. It is nothing to be thrilled about.
"Your sight goes, your hearing goes. Everything about you is different."
Born in St Bathans, on June 26, 1908, the seventh of 13 children, Miss McGregor was later told by her parents the "snow was three feet deep on that day".
"I quite often get a snowfall on my birthday."
A former relief teacher and later a physiotherapist, Miss McGregor worked in various South Island hospitals before moving to Wellington in 1935.
After World War 2, Miss McGregor worked with returned soldiers and sick children, "an enormously rewarding job", she said.
"I do miss Wellington."
She never married after her fiancee died, she said. "But life goes on."
Returning to Otago in 1960, Miss McGregor found Dunedin had not changed, but many of her friends and family no longer lived in the city.
"But I have enjoyed coming back here. To me, Otago, and particularly Central Otago is a very special place."
Miss McGregor said her nieces and nephews kept her busy and it was great to see so many of them in Dunedin to celebrate her birthday.
A secret to her longevity was eating and sleeping, and "not drinking alcohol like all these young people".
"People need to have more self control."
And the secret food which has helped her reach her century? "Hogget . . . with mint sauce."
