\u201cWe had to put a tent up because our house was badly damaged.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lived in tents for six weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was 6 at the time, living near Kotem\u0101ori, with seven sisters and one brother. <\/p>\n
Bircham recalls the simplicity of country life, walking three miles (4.8km) to school on gravel roads, little traffic, swimming holes in the creek, and watching her mother bake breads and puddings wrapped in cloth and hung from the ceiling.<\/p>\n
Nola Bircham points to her younger self in a family portrait. Photo \/ Rafaella Melo<\/p>\n
After the quake, her family eventually moved to Napier, settling in Enfield Rd. She said getting electricity felt like magic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember the day we ran around pulling all the cords in the house because we\u2019d only ever had candles and kerosene lamps.\u201d<\/p>\n
When younger, Bircham used to attend balls, wearing white gloves and evening gowns.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe loves music, used to love dancing, and is a very bubbly person until these days,\u201d her daughter Lynda Fergusson said.<\/p>\n
Bircham now lives at Waiapu House Lifecare, where she takes part in activities, reads widely and still wins the weekly trivia quiz.<\/p>\n
\u201cI read a lot. I go to the library and read their books, magazines and crosswords. And the Hawke\u2019s Bay Today newspaper, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bircham will celebrate her milestone on Saturday surrounded by her family of four children, 17 grandchildren, 48 great-grandchildren and 13 great-great-grandchildren, with some travelling from Australia.<\/p>\n
Nola Bircham with her four children: Lynda Fergusson,74, right, Karen Smith, 80, Les Hale, top left, 79, and Dave Hale, 76. Photo \/ Rafaella Melo<\/p>\n
As for the secret to reaching 100, she says \u201cenjoy life\u201d and \u201cmake the most\u201d of it every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t feel any different inside. I just do what I\u2019ve always done\u2026 making good choices … and hoping I keep doing it as well as I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second Nola<\/p>\n
Just a few kilometres from Bircham, an unrelated Nola in Taradale also blew out 100 candles this week.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s Nola Dooney, mother of six, grandmother of 17 and great-grandmother of 22, who still goes for a walk \u201cevery single day\u201d.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s part of her long-life secret.<\/p>\n
She grew up on a farm in Waihau, where one of her earliest memories is also the 1931 quake.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe felt a rumble up there, things shook, but nothing major,\u201d Dooney said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could see all the black smoke from the earthquake over Napier. It was all a bit dusty and then there was the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
At 6-years-old, Dooney described the quake as \u201cfun\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tank flew water out, the milking cow was racing around,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut for me, it was fun. I wasn\u2019t frightened because I had no one to frighten me. And I didn\u2019t lose anything or anyone … on that day I still had mum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dooney\u2019s mother died unexpectedly not long after.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the saddest day of my life … You don\u2019t know how precious your mother is till you lose her,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Born in Napier in 1925, Nola Dooney is marking her 100th birthday. Photo \/ Rafaella Melo<\/p>\n
Dooney said life in Hawke\u2019s Bay is \u201cquite different\u201d from when she was young.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack in my day, you visited your neighbours … You hardly know your neighbours now,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used to go to dances every fortnight, that\u2019s where I met my husband … Now there\u2019s none. How do you meet the young people?\u201d<\/p>\n
But for her, some changes are welcomed. <\/p>\n