![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/img_5339-jpg.webp\")
Thousands of feet above the ground Ms Ola Reeves cannot believe her eyes as she is flown over the Upper Clutha. Photo: Evie Sinclair <\/p>\nAt 100 years and two days old, Ola Reeve said she had \u201cofficially run out of wows\u201d thanks to a helicopter ride over W\u0101naka.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two years ago, a family friend asked Ms Reeve if there was anything she wanted to do before she died and the answer was simple.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo ride in a helicopter,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
With the help of local search and rescue worker Bill Day, Ms Reeve was able to tick the activity off her list by\u00a0flying over her retirement home, Elmslie House, before a tour taking in Ruby Island, Lake H\u0101wea, and the Clutha River.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Reeve said she was delighted to have seen the town from a \u201cwhole new perspective\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will never be the same: I just couldn\u2019t believe the scope and how large W\u0101naka\u00a0has become,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Thousands of feet above the ground Ms Ola Reeves cannot believe her eyes as she is flown over the Upper Clutha. Photo: Evie Sinclair <\/p>\n
Asked what the secret to her longevity was, Ms Reeve put it down to the supernatural.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re born, the fairies give you two gifts \u2026 mine were curiosity and wonder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look at the seed of an orchid, which is smaller than a grain of sand, but given the right circumstances it can produce that glorious blossom,\u201d Ms Reeve said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s contained in that tiny thing, given the right circumstances,\u201d Ms Reeve said.<\/p>\n
But Ms Reeve was not born with what most people would consider \u201cthe right circumstances\u201d, with a life of art and travel a testament to her spirit of positivity.<\/p>\n
Born in Palmerston North on July 21, 1926, Ms Reeve faced parental abandonment, moving between relatives, orphanages and foster families.<\/p>\n
In a biography written by her friend, Lindsey Schofield, Ms Reeve said at 13 she began to study art at Palmerston North technical college under the tutelage of Harry Linley Richardson, and that the practice had become her source of sanity over the years.<\/p>\n
At 16, Ms Reeve moved to Fiji, where her mother was working as a nurse, and vowed never to return to New Zealand.<\/p>\n
In the intervening years, she travelled to 31 countries, before ultimately settling in New Zealand in 1980.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/img_5333-jpg.webp\")
Ola Reeves and search and rescue pilot Bill Day posing for a photo before taking off, Ms Reeves is officially the oldest person Mr Day has flown. Photo: Evie Sinclair <\/p>\n
Ms Reeves has since visited 31 countries over her lifetime.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorld War 2 had just finished when I finished school and my generation was rebuilding the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Art may have been Ms Reeve\u2019s sanity, but for an income, she took\u00a0 a secretarial course, which laid the foundation for a career working around the world as a secretary, a receptionist, and even as a costume designer\u2019s assistant in the film industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Later in life, and after settling in W\u0101naka, Ms Reeve returned to her art, which hangs all over the world\u00a0and in a number of locations in W\u0101naka.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have paintings hanging from the Falkland Islands to Hong Kong and from Scotland to South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n
Artwork by Ms Reeve\u00a0can be found locally in Elmslie House, Community Hub,\u00a0St John and the W\u0101naka\u00a0Library.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery now and then someone will arrive and say they have been looking at my paintings, and it gives me a great sense of belonging,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now residing in W\u0101naka\u2019s Elmeslie House, Ms Reeve\u00a0said she enjoys listening to audiobooks, going for walks and enjoying the views.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/img_5219-jpg.webp\")
Ola Reeve, now 100 years old said the secret to longevity for her was to be born with curiosity and wonder Photo: Evie Sinclair <\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Ms Schofield\u2019s biography, Ms Reeve said that some people had\u00a0 questioned whether the events of her life\u00a0 were\u00a0 true, but she could\u00a0confirm that \u201cyes, after a less than promising start, my life has been rather remarkable,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Reeve\u00a0said her one piece of advice to others was\u00a0 to be kind.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to wish everybody good luck,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
evie.sinclair@alliedmedia.co.nz<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At 100 years and two days old, Ola Reeve said she had \u201cofficially run out of wows\u201d thanks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542929,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-542928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}