Jo Spiers has lived on the North Shore most of her life and currently resides in Hauraki, Takapuna. She's worked within the Royal New Zealand Navy for over 30 years, mostly as a musician in the Navy Band and more recently at the Naval Community Organisation. Channel's Nikki Davidson met Jo at the recent Birkenhead Primary School 100th Year Reunion and asked her to share her shore life with us...

What do you love most about living in Hauraki?
Being close to wonderful beaches and having all the shops and restaurants I enjoy nearby, and of course being not too far from where I work in Devonport.

How long have you lived here?
I have lived on the North Shore most of my life, firstly at Birkenhead in my school age years and at Hauraki for the past 40 years.

What activities or organisations are you involved with? Why are you passionate about this?
With my job as the Navy Community Organisation Coordinator, I’m very lucky to be involved in helping organise events for Navy personnel and their families. This sometimes crosses over to community events as well such as the Bayswater Halloween Trail. When my son was young, I was involved with school PTA, and now with three grandchildren I am busy with their after school activities.

  What else might you be involved with if you had more time?
I still work/perform as a trumpet player, and one of the groups I currently play with is the Auckland Jazz Orchestra. We perform concerts regularly and are recording a CD with local jazz singer Caitlin Smith next month. I would also really enjoy to be more involved with teaching children music. And a little more fishing time would be great too!

Tell us about a place that to you is a special local gem?
The Bath Street children’s playground at the top end of Cheltenham Beach I used to take my grandchildren to when they were younger.

Do you have a favourite local event that you look forward to each year?
There is always something happening on the shore. I am a fan of the weekly Takapuna Sunday Markets, and a local favourite of mine is the Hauraki School Twilight Fair.

The Fair is in November and is a fundraiser for the school. It has many great activities, auctions, food stalls and great entertainment for all.

 If you could change one aspect about your suburb what would it be?
I love everything about the Shore, however, if I could change anything it would be the traffic congestion problem we have on Lake Road. This is not just an issue on weekdays but also a real problem on our weekends.

Who would you most like to have as a neighbour and why?
Probably Edina and Patsy from the tv show Absolutely Fabulous - would make for some entertaining times!