Irene King runs the Floral Studio on Surrey crescent and can often be seen outside waving a huge sign!
A good childhood?
Challenging, my mother died when I was just over eight years old. A girl needs her mum no matter what age.
Most annoying celebrity?
Prince Charles - he just doesn’t seem that relevant or in tune with society but then again its probably because the Queen has been Queen for longer than I’ve been alive and maybe I secretly just hate the natural progression of change.
How would you like to be remembered?
Probably for waving the fresh flowers sign on the corner of Richmond Road and Surrey Crescent but I’d like to be remembered as being fearless and challenging senseless decisions. I’ve been known to do that on more than one occasion
If you won a million dollars?
Probably give it to my partner - he has stuck by me and my children, his step children, through thick and thin. He is just wise beyond his years and I know it has cost him a lot. I would love to be able to give him the financial freedom he deserves.
What happens when we die?
I believe in reincarnation and I would like to come back as a snake because there are a few who deserve a small bite accompanied by
a bit of poison running through their veins.
Ever seen a ghost?
No but my partners sees our kitty that we had put down about three years ago and now my cousin, who was staying with us, has seen it too. Neither of them drink alcohol but I do - don’t know if that’s got anything to do with it.
Favourite time of day?
Just on dusk because generally our ever present wind has gone down and construction has stopped for the day. The whole vibe of the city changes.
Greatest fear?
I don’t like birds. I could never enjoy chickens or ducks on the farm and I get sweaty palms just being around any form of bird.
Which talent would you like?
To be able to sing. Regrettably that talent skipped my generation. My father had a beautiful voice.
Comfort food?
Chocolate - any brand except Cadbury’s and not for the reason most are thinking. In my uni days I lived down the road from the Cadbury’s factory in Dunedin and when the wind was blowing in the right direction it just stunk.
Dream guest list for a dinner?
It’s a fairly family-orientated dream team because its important to understand who you are and why you hold the views you do. My mother - everyone says I am so like her but how can that be when I was just so young when she died? My grandmother - she was just staunchly anti-Catholic but agreed that Mum was the best Catholic she’d ever met. My great great grandfather, one of the first pakeha farmers to settle in New Zealand and an early adopter of bilingualism and Te Reo Maori. My partner’s mum who was part Maori from the Taranaki and in the 60s was one of the first female air traffic controllers at London’s Heathrow Airport and, of course, my Dad because despite his very conservative rural values he let me go to university - the first female in my immediate family to do so. All are no longer with us but as I believe in reincarnation, it’s quite possible I’ve encountered them all in their new lives.
Change one law in New Zealand, what would it be?
At this very moment I am working on a very unjust tax about to be imposed on some of our most vulnerable aviation operators. Government in my view doesn’t walk the talk - they claim no new taxes yet they impose 'levies' on these businesses without thinking about the consequences in terms of the wider.
(DAVID HARTNELL, MNZM)