‘Wonderful’ Milton days recalled

WE open today’s column with an intriguing question from across the Tasman: Does anyone in Milton remember Roland Chorazy?

Or, to use his own words, ‘‘an odd little boy in leg irons with a funny European name and a peculiar British accent.’’

Roland has written to the ODT, having visited Milton after 65 years, wanting to publicly thank the townsfolk for their kindness and ‘‘generosity of spirit’’ shown to a displaced refugee family which arrived there in 1948.

Under the heading ‘‘A sentimental journey’’, Roland recalled his ‘‘wonderful Huckleberry Finn childhood in Milton’’, adding:

‘‘My father was a World War 2 Polish pilot (decorated by three governments including Virtuti military cross of valour with two bars), exiled from his homeland by communism. My mother was a gentle Welsh lady and I the result of their union.

‘‘Milton adopted us. Father was a textile technologist, educated at Nottingham University by a grateful British government after the war, and found employment at the Bruce Woollen Mills. We lived in the caretaker’s cottage in the mill grounds, which I roamed with dog and faithful companion ‘Shadow’.

‘‘I recall wonderful days visiting family friends on outlying farms and holidays and weekends at the family bach in Toko Mouth. Does it still stand, I wonder? But, most of all I remember the warmth and kind decency of the people of Milton, which I have not yet found equalled anywhere else. Thank you Milton.

‘‘PS: I remember a Sunday knock on the front door and a middleaged, childless couple with a shiny black child’s bike; they had won it in a raffle and thought I might like it.’’

The letter was signed ‘‘yours (surprisingly emotionally), Roland Chorazy’’, and he added: ‘‘Though I have lived in Australia since my midteens, I will always remain a Kiwi at heart.’’

It wasn’t possible to reach Roland by telephone but with some invaluable help from Bozena Haug, from the ‘‘Poles Down South’’, it appears Roland’s parents were Edward and Ethel, as all three names are listed in the History of the Polish Settlers in New Zealand,

17761987, published in 1990.

Sea creatures

ODT illustrations editor Stephen Jaquiery had one of those days yesterday, pursuing his wellknown love for all things marine.

Armed with the tools of his photographic trade, he boated out to the heads of Otago harbour after reported sightings of a pod of orca (known as killer whales).

Doc says New Zealand is home to an estimated 150200 individuals, which travel long distances throughout the country’s coastal waters. But no sign of them could he find.

However, once back on terra firma he was told of a different sighting, this time near Macandrew Bay and attracting interest from passing motorists, and today’s photographs (above) are the result.

Stephen suspects the large fin, spotted heading towards the city, belongs to a sunfish, which, my research tells me, are the world’s largest bony fish.

According to the www.teara.govt.nz website, sunfish are ‘‘found in northern New Zealand waters, but specimens have been cast up as far south as Otago Harbour. They often drift near the surface, lying on their sides, or swim upright with the dorsal fin projecting above the water — when they may be mistaken for sharks.’’