Darren Matahau
I’ve made friends for life in Minto

I’ve lived in Minto for as long as I can remember. I moved to America with my family then moved back to Minto again. All I can say about Minto is the people are the friendliest people you’ll ever find. They’re more than a community, they’re like your family.

Everyone can say what they like about Minto but the one thing that I love, and will always remember about Minto, is the friendly people. The cleaners in Minto Mall who always have a story to tell you. They don’t just clean there, they share their story with you.

We move next year but we’re still not sure where we’re going to go. It’ll be so weird, not going up to Pendergast Avenue to Friendship Way. But I guess your home is where your family is. So wherever my family decides to go is where I’ll go.

I’m going to miss Minto. I think just knowing that most of the people I’ve grown up with aren’t there anymore. When you drive past, it seems just so empty. It doesn’t even look like people were there. I think for other people, that house would just be a house, that tree is just a tree. But to us, growing up, playing out the front of that house and engraving our names on that tree…

We just had the best childhood. We could walk around till 10 o’ clock at night, mind you our mum would be running around looking! It was so safe. I don’t know any other place where I’d feel safe with my car unlocked. If your lights are left on, no matter how late it is, your neighbour will come and knock on your door and say, “Excuse me, your lights are on,” and stuff like that. I’ve made friends for life in Minto — just an awesome group of people.