Memories flooded back when Kate Bathurst revisited a childhood home.
The pole for the netball hoop in the Bletsoe Ave, Spreydon, backyard is still a fixture, although it now has a backboard attached.
“Mum bought the hoop, I spent a lot of hours out there, I loved this house,” she recalled.
Inside, the kitchen’s towering rimu cupboards – an original feature from 1924 – was also familiar, likewise nostalgic items found inside by chance over Easter.
The missing albums, including one containing wedding photos, were featured in The Star last week; less than 24 hours after publication Bathurst dropped a note in Renton’s letterbox.
“My mate messaged me and said ‘Your parents are the mystery couple in The Star’.”
Renton assumed Ralph and Averil Bathurst were one of three previous owners of the house from the 1970s.
“It was fleeting obviously, I made the assumption they were married and moved straight in,” she said.
Bathurst contacted her parents, who were surprised to hear of the find. Neither were aware the albums had been missing.
“Mum’s got boxes and boxes of photos. There was talk a few years ago we should try and archive them digitally because she lived out in Tai Tap then and there was the Port Hills fire (2017),” Bathurst said.
“My sister (Fleur) was thinking if something happens all those photos will be gone.”
The siblings also feature in photos taken when the family lived in Singapore, where Ralph was a pastor teaching at a bible school.
“Mum and dad haven’t been together for a long time but still, it’s nice for me and my sister,” Bathurst said, as she thumbed through an album.
“I’ve seen the wedding photos before, though not for a while.”
Avril now resides in Ilam while Ralph is in Auckland.
“Mum thought it was hilarious when I told her,” Bathurst said.
“Dad was like, what? Weird.”
