Reminiscences of growing up in Gisborne, New Zealand, which is a town serving a farming community. June lived by the Waimata River; she had her friends had lots of fun on the water. Gisborne is renowned for its beaches, too. There are tales of school age antics, and then more from when June was a young teacher in the country. The book describes wartime rationing, food choices available in NZ in the mid 20th Century, and the author's experiences driving a 1939 de Soto. This story of a young life on the East Coast in New Zealand is set in the 1940s and and 1950s.