Kiwi centurions march on and on and on...

When Madeline Anderson was born in 1907, Joseph Ward was prime minister and New Zealand had a population of just under one million people. Now, there are about 4.7 million Kiwis. She is one of an increasing number of New Zealanders living beyond 100 and joining the centenarian club. The number of people aged 100 or older has more than doubled since 1996, according to Statistics New Zealand. The latest Census figures, gathered in 2013, showed 580 people were aged 100, or older, while another 840 New Zealanders were 97, meaning they may have gone on to turn 100 this year. The trend for living longer has put a strain on services in New Zealand. A recent report by banking company Westpac showed there were not enough rest homes being built to meet a massive rise in demand. The report warned that more than 1.25 million people would be over 65 within 25 years. When Mrs Anderson, she prefers the honorific, was a child she would ride to school in a horse and

I think there is a wonderful lot of young people around. They have initiative and they have self confidence and nothing is beyond them. Madeline Anderson

buggy. ‘‘There were no motor cars when I was little. But gradually things have come along,’’ she said.

The Otago farm where she grew up had one telephone mounted high on the wall. She had to stand on a chair to use it.

‘‘You can carry the phone around in your pocket now.’’

She celebrated her 109th birthday in May, at home in Upper Hutt. Even though she is one of the oldest people in New Zealand, she has still kept up with an ever changing world.

‘‘There will be untold more astounding changes in the future, but I won’t see them.’’

‘‘My latest challenge is an iPad. My eye sight is not good enough to use it, but people send emails on it for me. I can look at photographs on it.’’

Wattie Thomas turned 100 on October 16. He lives at Rowena Jackson retirement village in Invercargill.

‘‘I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would be one of the ones that would reach 100.’’

Thomas received a RSA Gold Star award and an award for his 30 years service in the Army. ‘‘That’s for doing nothing,’’ he said modestly about his awards.

Thomas said he had enjoyed every moment of his 100 years of life, especially living at Rowena Jackson rest home for the last four years.

He recalled smoking 50 cigarettes a week when he was 18 or 19, but quit on October 17, 1942, while lying wounded in a hospital in Egypt during World War II. The cigarettes available in Egypt, were ‘‘fairly horrible,’’ he said.

Mrs Anderson believes the future is in good hands and has praise for the teenagers in her life.

‘‘I think they are amazing. They are so good at all those new inventions. I think there is a wonderful lot of young people around.’’

‘‘They have initiative and they have self confidence and nothing is beyond them really. They are a great bunch.’’

Mrs Anderson’s daughter, Heather List, said her mother is often asked for the secret of a long life.

‘‘She usually says banal things like eating vegetables,’’ she said.

‘‘But I remember one time she was asked that question and she said she just hadn’t died yet.’’