Joan Grice has lived a life that reads like an adventure novel. At 99, she effortlessly reels off stories of skydiving, white-water rafting, climbing Mt Ruapehu, and even visiting Antarctica.
Joan Grice with Danny Blakemore on the mobile barrier starting the race named after her at Cambridge Raceway last week. Photo: Race Images NZ
The word daredevil springs to mind — though she draws the line at bungee jumping, joking that her eyeballs might pop out. Still, she’s game for anything else.
A former schoolteacher, Joan thought her thrill-seeking days were behind her. That changed a couple of years ago during a visit to Cambridge Raceway with friends from Arvida Lauriston Park Retirement Village.
Watching the starting car line up the horses, she spotted someone seated beside the driver and said, “That sounds up my alley!”
Joan Grice getting into the mobile barrier
Fast forward to last Tuesday, just before the running of the Joan Grice’s 99th Birthday 2200m Mobile Pace — a race sponsored by her family to mark the milestone — and Joan was seated beside starter Danny Blakemore in the mobile barrier.
Despite the challenge of climbing into the cage, she beamed with excitement. As seven horses lined up behind the barrier, Joan gave the signal to start. She was still laughing as she and Danny sped down the home straight, veering off to let the horses pass.
Trackside, Joan’s daughter Delia Cook, and friends cheered as four-year-old bay mare Change Tact — trained by former Cambridge trainer driver Matthew White — entered the winner’s circle to salute the judge and Joan herself.
Happy birthday Joan Grice with Cambridge Raceway CEO Dave Branch.
The race meeting was a brief one, with just five races between 5.29pm and 7.03pm, but it was more than enough time for Joan and her group of eight to enjoy the hospitality of the President’s Lounge.
“We were spoiled rotten,” Joan said, praising Raceway chief executive Dave Branch. “He looked after us — such a lovely guy.”
Cambridge News 3 July 2025
She also received congratulatory messages throughout the evening, including one from race caller Aaron White.
Born in Te Aroha on June 23, 1926, Joan’s maiden name is Webber — former Waipā deputy mayor Grahame Webber is her nephew. She attended Morrinsville Primary and High schools before boarding at Hamilton High School when her family moved to Lichfield.
She trained at Teachers’ College and later earned a university degree, teaching at both primary and secondary levels. Her career included stints at Melville, Sacred Heart, Fairfield Intermediate, Silverdale, Huntly West, and various Waikato schools as a relief teacher.
Joan has five children, and several grandchildren spread across New Zealand and Australia.
Her passion for travel has taken her to Jersey in the Channel Islands (her ancestral home), Turkey, South Africa, China, Croatia, Ecuador, the Galápagos and Easter Islands, and on epic train journeys including the Trans-Siberian Railway through Russia in winter.
She recalls a chilling moment when two students from the carriage behind came to visit her and returned to find their own carriage had vanished, along with all their belongings.
A former teacher, Joan Grice now uses her research skills finding out more about her family history. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
They were left at a foggy, freezing shelter — no bigger than a Goldsmith Street bus stop Joan points to outside her loungeroom window — hundreds of miles from Moscow, waiting for the carriage to return.
She has explored every corner of New Zealand, including the Chatham and Stewart Islands, though she admits she’d love to see more of the South Island.
Mount Maunganui, where her mother lived for more than 50 years and where her children spent their holidays, is the best spot in New Zealand, she said.
Though she sold her Honda Jazz last year, Joan still holds a driver’s licence and gets around Leamington and Cambridge on her mobility scooter. She is vocal about the poor state of footpaths and says she is often forced onto the road due to parked vehicles. As a result, she prefers shopping in Leamington, just across the road.
Joan and another Lauriston resident, also nearing 99, were once regular trike riders at the Velodrome. However, a new ticketing system has made it harder for them to continue.
In recent years she has researched her family history online and points to boxes of information she has filed away in her villa.
With just over 350 days to go before she turns 100, Joan Grice stays curious, adventurous and full of life. It is those qualities plus the giant jigsaw puzzles she tackles every day – she was completing a 1000 piece dog one when The News visited – and cryptic crosswords, which help keep her mind active.
The birthday card haul for her 99th birthday was a big surprise for Joan Grice. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
