It seems everyone in Harwood is on holiday but you’d be hard pressed to find anyone there who doesn’t call the Dunedin suburb home. Reporter Shawn McAvinue and photographer Christine O’Connor spent a couple of hours in the Dunedin suburb and talked to 10 permanent residents making every day a holiday.
Harwood is a sleepy suburb on the eastern shoreline of Otago Harbour, north of Portobello Bay.
About 3km across the harbour is Port Chalmers.
King's High School pupil Andrew Walker (14) and Tahuna Normal Intermediate pupil Jalen Mingins (12) are permanent residents in Harwood. For them, every day is like a holiday, their time spent on bikes and scooters or swinging on the tyre suspended from a mature pine tree.
They say the only negative of living in Harwood is having to rise early to get to school on time.
A highlight in Harwood is the annual hangi at Scott Hall to raise money to maintain the community meeting point.
Permanent Harwood resident Rebecca Shaw said the ''peace and the community'' had made Harwood a great place to live for the past 11 years with her family.
''It's awesome - a great place to bring up kids. I know all my neighbours and they're all great.''
Another highlight was the absence of street lights, allowing residents to see the stars.
Some light pollution comes from the port and if the wind blows a certain way, some noise pollution.
The suburb has more than 120 houses and about 90% belong to permanent residents.
Over the past decade, the houses had been transformed from cribs to permanent homes, she said.
Riley McCallum (10), of Invercargill, was on holiday in Harwood yesterday. He has been visiting his grandfather Alan ''Albow'' Gunning and grandmother Irene Gunning since late December.
Riley said he spent yesterday skimboarding in the harbour.
However, his Lego collection had not been neglected as he waited for the rain to clear.
Mr Gunning said he moved to Harwood from the West Coast to be closer to their grandchildren in the South.
He had never regretted the move.
''It's great watching the cruise ships go past.''
The butcher was raised in Auckland, so the trip to Dunedin each day was a breeze.
Mrs Gunning said she loved living in Harwood and their ''Lazy Daze'' house.
''I love it, it's quiet and peaceful.''
Permanent residents John Manu and Lyn Cameron-Manu said most permanent residents owned a boat.
Mr Manu said when he fishes at Karitane for blue cod, his wife stays home.
''Lyn won't go out past the heads in the deep blue sea, so when she comes out we trawl for salmon in the harbour.''
The absence of street lights was ''bloody brilliant''.
''I couldn't handle living in town. You go there at night and it's like broad daylight.''
Permanent resident Lee Dargaville said the lack of street lights meant everyone in the suburb owned a good torch.
When the sun shines, she can choose from more than 1000 hats her husband Joe Dargaville has collected. They hang in the bar at their house.
''We tell the children to count them when they are naughty,'' Mr Dargaville said.
Every misbehaving child always lost count before reaching a final tally, he said.
