Return & death of Rosemary
They had plans to open a charter service in the Bay of Islands but, partly due to their own advancing years, these never
materialised and they sold Kittiwake 2, visiting Canada on the proceeds. Shortly after their return to Kerikeri Gwyn
suffered a heart attack and this threw into doubt their plans to continue running the orchard. As property prices were
buoyant they eventually decided to sell up and move to Auckland.
Having bought a house in Thatcher Street, Auckland, they set off for a four-month tour of Europe, a 'trip of a lifetime' for
Rosemary who had always wanted to visit England. Six months after their return to New Zealand they again sold up and
returned to Canada. Rosemary, who had initially had reservations about going to New Zealand, had grown to love it and it
was quite a wrench to leave, and to leave behind two of their children. However, in May 1980 they bought a house in Sooke
(map).
Property values had soared and it was only a simple box-like building but they worked hard to give it its own character.
Rosemary always created a beautiful garden wherever they lived. She had great energy and had to keep busy; at the end of the
day she would ask her children, "What have you achieved today?" Unfortunately, possibly as a result of drugs she took
for glaucoma, she had respiratory problems and Gwyn had had his heart attack so early in the 1990s their youngest daughter
who had by then also moved back to live in Victoria, bought a house in Wellington Road, Victoria, which she and they could
share; the top storey was at street level and this was where Rosemary and Gwyn lived. Rosemary died in 1998 and is buried at
Holy Trinity Church, Patrick Bay
(map).