Ever wonder what it’s like being born on New Zealand’s rarest birth date? Gordon Preece finds out from five Nelson Tasman residents who were born on 29 February, which is only added to our calendars every four years.
Motueka’s father and son leaplings:
A soon-to-be 68-year-old Motueka fencing contractor can’t wait to legally drink, visit nightclubs and vote in four years’ time.
Philip Grooby was born in 1956 on New Zealand’s rarest birthday, 29 February, and 28 years later his son Clint Grooby, a joiner in Motueka, was born on the same day.
The father and son leaplings will turn 68 and 40, or depending how you look at it, 17 and 10 tomorrow and plan to celebrate at the Riwaka Hotel after a four year wait for their day of birth.
Philip says sharing the unique birthday with his son was “a good thing to have”.
“I’ve never known anything different, it’s what we’re used to I guess,” he says.
“On the day Clint was born there was another couple in Golden Bay who had the same date, they were also a father and son [born on 29 February].
“[In 2028] I’ll be able to go to the pub … considering I was going to pubs since I was 16 [4], that’s pretty good aye.”
Clint says sharing a birthday with his father ensured it was never forgotten and he looked forward to celebrating his double milestone.
“We’re coming up 40 birthdays together, I don’t think we’ve had one apart yet,” he says.
“Some cards might come with 10 or 40… I don’t know which age is worse, probably the 40.”
Roman dictator, Julius Caesar, is credited with the leap year origin in the year 45 Before Common Era (BCE).
The early Romans had a 355-day calendar, and to keep festivals occurring around the same season each year, a 22 or 23-day month was created every second year.
Julius Caesar decided to simplify things and added days to different months to create the 365-day calendar.
Every fourth year following 28 February, one day was to be added, making every fourth year a leap year.
Nelson leaplings at school as toddlers:
“I’ll finally be able to play games that are for ages three plus.”
Tayla Scott has a special birth date, the rarest in the country, marked every four years.
The Broadgreen Intermediate School pupil will turn 12, or possibly three, on 29 February and says while her unique birthday triggers wry remarks from her peers, she feels honoured to be a bright three-year-old who attends intermediate.
“This year they won’t be teasing me … I’ll finally be able to play games that are for ages three plus,” she laughs.
Her mother Jo says her soon-to-be three-year-old daughter will be up past 6pm for her celebrations.
“Because [the birth date] is so rare it’s a really cool thing, and I also have a cousin who was born on the 29th … he’s in his 50s this year,” she says.
Nayland Primary School student Max Harwood was born on 29 February when the milestone was marked in 2016.
The wishful pro footballer plans to celebrate his eighth birthday at Timezone with friends and will possibly be the only two-year-old to have a go at laser tag.
His mother Amy says her leapling son’s birthday was a good excuse to go the extra mile.
“We make it a special birthday every four years when it’s his actual birthday and try and make it something a bit more to celebrate rather than just being a standard birthday because I feel like it is quite special,” she says.
“He was supposed to be born on Anzac Day, but he was eight weeks early and we joked about it earlier on in the year, what happens when people are born on the 29 February, and the fact he came out early, we now know.”
‘Forever young’ for Hope leapling:
Katrina Evans says being born on New Zealand’s rarest birth date keeps her “forever young”.
The Hope resident was born in Nelson in 1972 on 29 February, which is added to the calendar every four years, and will turn 52 or 13 tomorrow.
She says the date had provided humour since her childhood.
“My parents thought it was great because they only had to give me a birthday every four years, and in between I just got taken out to dinner with a friend,” she says.
“They played on that a lot in a good way, and there’s a couple of us with unique birthdays in our family … one of them was on Guy Fawkes and one of them is on the longest day of the year.
“My biggest birthday was my 40th because I turned ten, two milestones on one day, that was quite cool.”
She says her plans as a 52-year-old teenager include driving ahead of her time.
“My sons always used to laugh that they were older than me and that they should be driving,” she laughs.
