Fig tree link to family's past
"Stromboli people would often take this fig wherever they went in the world, wherever they travelled," he explains.
"The four places they settled – New York, Buenos Aires and Melbourne, and Island Bay in Wellington – I guarantee the fig tree will be growing in those areas."
Gerard's own fig tree – which he has given away so many cuttings from – was given to him by his mother, Francesca Margherita Hindmarsh (nee Moleta), now 93, from the tree transplanted to her family garden at Berhampore in Wellington where Gerard grew up.
"My mother presented me with these fig cuttings when I moved to Golden Bay in 1976."