Margaret

 

A new interest

I first became aware of Margaret Barriball during 1975. She had joined the staff of Bay of Islands College to teach the secretarial course at senior level, as well as shorthand and typing for the junior classes. In those days these were strictly for girls.

During that year, this beautiful young lady would waft in to the staff room, cool and poised, often dressed in pure white, and chat quietly to her friends on the staff. I thought of her, if I thought of her at all, as a junior colleague only just out of teenage years. In fact sometimes I mistook her for a pupil in mufti.

However in 1976 I had reason to heighten my interest. Margaret undertook a couple of papers from Massey university in English, which would enable her to widen her teaching subjects, and she approached me, as Head of English, to advise her on books to read. I also offered to help her with assignments if necessary.

During these conversations I was surprised to find Margaret was several years older than she looked, 26 in fact. This changed my attitude quite considerably, and I became much more interested in her as a possible companion. So, as I have already said, I wondered how she would fit in as a crew member on the yacht.

Towards the end of the year, in the first weeks of November in fact, the Mercury Theatre in Auckland were producing Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, which Margaret had been introduced to through her course at Massey. Staff and students of the College would from time to time make up parties to travel to cultural events like theatre, and I tried to encourage that activity.

So I suggested to my colleagues that we take a carload to Canterbury Tales. Only Margaret and my junior colleague in the English Department, Patsy Moi, were able to go with me.

So we left school straight after classes finished, and drove directly to the theatre in Karangahape Road and saw a great performance, with actors like George Henare, Rawiri Paratene, and Ian Mune in the lead roles.

After the play was over, we piled into the car and headed back up State Highway 1 towards Kawakawa, and the next day's work.