Mercedes is a poet, much published, more overseas than in New Zealand. Mercedes has had to move from the village but remains part of it, volunteering at the museum and keeping up with friends.
“I lived here for just over five years. I really love the village and the ambiance. There’s a small village feeling but it’s really close to everything in the city. And the people, the beach, yeah! I am involved with the museum. I did some work with the local radio station to start with and that was fun…. I came to the village because my mother was in a nursing home in Wellington and I was living in Paraparaumu Beach; twice a week I’d go and visit her and on the way home I’d stop at the pub as a relaxing thing to do before I got home and leave all of that behind. And so I gradually got to know a few locals. Then I had a chance to live here – a girlfriend of mine bought a house here and she was looking for tenants so I put my hand up”.