The Heart Of Oakview

For more than eight decades, a magnificent oak tree has watched over this land – providing shelter and shade below, sturdy limbs above, a natural playground to explore and a riot of colour every autumn.

This impressive tree, after which our residential subdivision is named, was planted in the late 1930s around the same time as Gisborne farmer Campbell Parkinson first took up a lease on 40ha of grazing land.

Willows and pine trees were planted nearby, and Campbell set up his first milking shed about 50m away from the single oak. He used to hand-milk a dozen or so cows for the local town supply, dropping the milk off in billycans to his customers in his Model T Ford.

While their father was hard at work, the four Parkinson children used to play beside the oak tree, digging trenches in the sandy soil that were large enough to crawl through – many of which came perilously close to uprooting the tree itself!

Having grown sturdy enough to withstand childhood adventures, grazing cattle and several pigs who loved to chomp up thousands of acorns, the oak tree managed to survive Cyclone Bola in March 1988. Many other trees on the property also succumbed to the fierce wind, and the few pines and willows that remained have since been removed.

But this grand old oak remains.

It can be seen for miles around, and provides an ideal focal point for our new community. A place to meet, rest and play.

New rows of pin oaks will soon line our neighbourhood streets and a recreational reserve will surround this mighty tree, allowing a new generation of families to climb its branches and play beneath its glorious leaves.

Welcome to Oakview.