My Account
Some people spend their whole lives in one line of work, maybe two. Then, there are others such as Clive Nicholls, of Matakana. His list of occupations since leaving Warkworth District High School in the 1940s includes army radio operator, farm labourer, herd tester, bakery assistant, loader driver, lighthouse keeper, waterfront customs officer, periodic detention officer and armoured guard. Having spent his life travelling NZ’s length and breadth, Clive returned to his place of birth, in the shadow of Pukematekeo or Sugar Loaf, 12 years ago. Local Matters editor Jannette Thompson spent an entertaining afternoon listening to some of his stories ….
I understand you are a descendent of the Matthew* brothers?
My mother was Euphemia Matthew, the grand-daughter of Jane and James Edward Matthew. My father was Cyrus Nicholls, who moved to Matakana when he was 18 to take up a position with the Post Office. He eventually became the postmaster and retired after 39 years. He was recognised for the fact that he never had a day off sick in his whole working life. My maternal grandfather was John Matthew, who bought the farm at Sugar Loaf, off Joe Anderson. He started with four cows and seven acres but eventually owned one square mile. A midwife, who arrived on horseback, delivered me at home on the farm and I now live in the house my grandparents retired to.
Did you admire your grandfather?
I was very fond of him. He was the one who taught me to shoot. We used black backed gulls for targets because they were a pest, picking out the eyes out of newborn lambs. I’ve hunted for food all my life – rabbits, deer, goats and, of course, fish. We used to shoot flounder in the Matakana River and I also remember catching about 300 eels at the bottom of the falls in Matakana after a big flood. We ate some of them and mashed up the rest and fed them to the chooks.
What made you join the Regular Army?
I love machines and making things. I made my first crossbow when I was 13 but the police confiscated it after someone saw me hunting goats with it on the Pakiri range. I had ideas of going into engineering but when I came out of school, all the apprenticeships were taken. I spent a bit over five years in the Regulars. I think compulsory military service wouldn’t do anyone any harm. It teaches discipline and would give young people training in how to work as a team. From the army I went into herd testing and then worked as a farm labourer, near Wellington. It nearly killed me. I caught leptospirosis from the pigs and dropped two stone in three weeks, and lost all feeling from my waist down. This was particularly devastating for someone who had just recently got married!
How did you become a lighthouse keeper?
I’d applied to the Lighthouse Service when I working for Rodney County. When a position came up on Tiritiri Matangi Island, I jumped at it. A diesel generator powered everything on the island, including the light, so it was handy that I’d always been a bit of a fix-it man. It was a great life, much better than anything I’d imagined. You got to know some real characters – Captain Fred Ladd would regularly bomb our cabbages with the paper as he flew over on his way to the Barrier, and there were emergencies that tested your ingenuity and reserves. I spent 18 months on Tiritiri, followed by three and a half years at Cape Reinga. The service then sent me to Puysegur Point, at Preservation Inlet, about 145km west of Bluff, a lighthouse that was accessible only by sea. My final position was as principal keeper at the Nuggets, south of Dunedin. I wanted to move north but the service offered me Dog Point, further south again, so I called it a day.
What happened then?
After a short stint in a fowl mongery and on the tallow rendering plant, I joined Waterfront Customs, based in Wellington. For the next 20 years I worked at tracking down contraband and drugs, and checking ships’ manifestos. I was part of the original flying squad which meant I got to travel all over NZ. When waterfront customs was disbanded, I joined the Justice Department as a periodic detention warden which involved working two days a week with the Mongrel Mob in the Hutt Valley. I was also working part-time as an Armoured Guard. Two weeks before I was due to leave, we were hit by a van which shot a red light. Both my knees were badly injured and an occasional limp is a legacy of that incident.
What bought you back to Matakana?
The climate and the fishing were strong drawcards, as well as the family connection. I have to say though that I’m a bit alarmed about what’s been happening in Matakana lately. Council wants a Gateway to Matakana but its own regulations have made it almost impossible for farms to remain viable. One thing I am also dead opposed to is Council’s suggestion that sewage from Matakana should be pumped to Jones Road. Some of the building work that’s been allowed to proceed also makes me a little apprehensive. I’ve seen the floods go through Matakana, when the old timberyard was underwater and all you could see was the apex of the wharf shed roof.
What keeps you busy these days?
After retiring, I spent four years on a working holiday in England and Europe. Then I parted company with my second wife and now my little dog Pippylongsocks is my dearest companion. We keep busy gardening and with interests such as archery, vintage engines, Matakana Landcare and archaeology. I’ve been collecting stamps since I was five years old and am president of the Warkworth Stamp Club. It’s a great hobby because it introduces you the geography of the world, and events and happenings of our time. I’ve specialised in lighthouses, space exploration, owls, vehicles and archery, to name just a few. Last Christmas I was very fortunate to receive the very rare Penny Black, which was the first stamp in the world. I’ve since received a Penny Red and now am on the lookout for the Tuppenny Blue. What a find that would be.
* Brothers Charles and James Matthew were qualified arborists and horticulturalists. In 1855, they purchased land in Matakana and established NZ’s first commercial orchards (and nurseries).– Rock and the Sky, by H. Mabbett.
