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Great Writing - Home > Non-Fiction > New Zealand trip - April 1976
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Non-Fiction
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| New Zealand trip - April 1976 | |
| By jean.day | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 February 2007 | ||||||||||||||||
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I am not going to change the way I am doing these - because they are like journal entries - and aren't supposed to be sophisticated and word perfect. I am not intending to have them published, and the only reason for publishing them on GW is because I mentioned that we'd been to NZ and there seemed to be an interest in hearing what it was like. April April 3- Happy Easter. It doesn' t seem at all like Easter with the seasons all twisted around. And last weekend was Mothers’ Day and nobody remembered. This place is so uncommercial that there weren't any cards or advertisements on show so my family forgot. It doesn't really worry me- but we forgot Phil's mother too and she might have been upset. But it seems like Halloween time and I can't imagine Easter Sunday without bright colored new spring dresses and hats. Philip has had such a busy week. He drove to Dunedin on Tues (240 miles) but it took him 5 1/2 hours due to bad slow roads and fog. He had a lecture there on Wed and arrived back at 11 p.m. Then Thurs he went on a trip with other scientist to collect soil and vegetable samples from an area in the mountains. He said the weather was beautiful and he really enjoyed it. There is so much criticism of England here- people say how can you stand to live there with such a depressing state of economy. But I doubt if things are any worse there than here - or perhaps even in the States. It’s just a different way of looking at things. We pay as much for food here totally although meat is cheaper- processed foods are much higher and clothes and shoes are very expensive And we have much less creature comforts here like a warm house and a good comfortable car. So I get annoyed when people are critical - England is a beautiful green country- best in the spring. April 5 We had some tragic happenings around here yesterday .We went to Akaroa and on the way back we saw a police car flashing and racing and it stopped outside a house about a block from here. We hung around to see what we could see. Two policemen got out and rushed to a house where an older man ran to meet them and then they all went around the back where they found three murdered bodies - man, wife and child. It turned out to be people we know. They own the local bookshop and we go in there a lot. They were killed by the man’s17 year old son from his first marriage. The murdered lady was so friendly. I used to spend a lot of time chatting with her. Last Monday I had a phone call from Jonathan's teacher. He'd been bringing her little presents from the garden - a few carrots one day - some lettuce thinnings another day. She was very upset and said it just simply had to stop. I explained that he only wanted to take her presents and I didn't see how it could hurt. But I really felt annoyed at her attitude. I don't like her anymore. She's quite prepared for kids to give her flowers or an apple but since someone offered her small carrots she can't understand it and thinks it’s wrong. I don't like the idea that people have to conform. Never mind. Jon seems happy about going to school just now. I must pickle some pears. We've got masses that won't store as they've bruised or wormy but 3/4 are ok. So I’ll go to work on that. I've made several gallons of wine. We're hampered by lack of proper equipment. It’s not worth buying lot of stuff. April 15 I got my credentials approved so I'm going in next week to see about when and where and uniforms etc. I'm getting excited about it again. There are all sorts of possibilities for Andrea -day nurseries and friends - we'll just have to sort out which seems best- she's a pretty easy child- adaptable and friendly. Poor Andrea's not well at the moment. I took her to the doctor and had a fight with the nurse. She criticised me for giving her aspirin because it meant they couldn't take an accurate temp and also for putting too many clothes on her. I told her I was perfectly capable of deciding what my child's temp was and when she needed an aspirin - her temp was 103 and it was just too bad if she couldn’t believe me also that our house was so cold - it gets down to about 40 in the house at night and since her fever had gone down it seemed logical to see that she shouldn’t get chilled. Andrea then saw the doctor who said she had a bug - her glands are all swollen. She was given a throat swab and she vomited on the nurse which rather pleased me. The nurse said she'd have to have her tonsils taken out but the doctor didn't say so. We saw a super windmill at the Uni on open day. It was generating in excess of 4 amps more or less continuously and charging a battery. It was so simple. It was on about a 15 ft. wooden pole supported by four ropes and the mechanism was on a swiveling head with only one smallish sail. Easter Monday Dear Mum and Dad, Happy Easter! I hope you have had as fine a weekend as we have. Autumn here takes a long time to start - the trees have been turning yellow and brown for a month or more, but still most of them are green. And this weekend has been hot and sunny, more like late summer. The children have Friday to Tuesday (inclusive) off school and the university is closed as well, so we have been out a lot. Actually, Andrea was quite ill last week - flu and a chill. She had a temperature of 104º on and off for 3 days and then suddenly got better. So we didn't go away at all overnight. One day we went north from here, about 20 miles, and picked apples. The mountains which are up there westward swing over to the east and a bit to the north here, and the areas between the coast and the mountains about 20-30 miles north of Christchurch is rather warmer than Christchurch itself and the centre of fruit growing in the South Island. You can go and pick your own apples at 4p /lb. We ended up with 60 lbs of gold delicious (which are completely different when picked fresh). We then went on into the hills for a picnic. Most roads in "country" areas are unmade up i.e. Macadam roads with no tar. If there is much farm traffic they may be tar-sealed. The road up into the hills we found was classified "dry weather only" which means no foundations. Also very steep. But of all the places we've so far found, this was the nicest-probably because the hills were not so large as the main mountain range, so that you could see the tops of them. Also that area is mostly covered with original "bush". We are planning to send you a package of slides before long, so you will see what I mean then. Today we went off for the day with the Clark family. My godfather, Kyle's brother's wife lives in the old Clark family home about 1/4 miles from us - about 6 acres of land with a river flowing through which is spacious even by N.Z. standards. Her son (David) lives close by here too, and Jean has got to know his wife and children, quite well. Anyway - David's brother is a farmer about 30 miles inland and we spent the day with them all at the farm, which we all greatly enjoyed. (David is a keen gliding enthusiast and one day about 6 weeks back we spent a day with them when I had a trip up in his glider which was fun) Jean has at last had her dietetic qualification approved by the medical council, so she will be starting to work 2 mornings a week soon - the days Andrea goes to kindergarten. I take the children to school these days, and Jean comes home at lunchtime. Love from all of us. Philip. Why don't you visit us here next autumn? £500 return. April 26, 1976 Dear Mum and Dad, The children had Friday-Tuesday holiday and we went out several of those days. The autumn is a bit variable in regard to weather - several days of cloud and rain, but over Easter, fine and warm. So was last weekend. We had picnics out by the sea and cooked over open fires, etc. They don't allow fires in the summer because of the fire risk - the ground is very dry and forest fires are a big hazard - but in the spring and autumn most people light fires and fry hamburgers or whatever. We went out on Saturday evening to play bridge with a housemaster and his wife at Christ's College (John Mills). He was at Newcastle High School from 1944 to 1949 and showed us several reports etc. signed "T. Stinton". He was very complimentary about grandfather as a headmaster. Christ College is a typical English Public School of about the 1930's. Despite many years of socialism, N.Z. is still very keen on private education, and schools such as Christ College get quite large government grants, so the fees are about £400 a year (boarders). Actually, NZ is only socialist in a very few restricted ways eg medical/social security/pensions/ education. Otherwise, private enterprise is very much encouraged. The result of having been settled largely. by the Scots no doubt. They all seem to work very hard, but only for five days a week as I think I've mentioned before Saturday and Sunday are holidays for everyone, including the shopkeepers. Today I paid a quick visit to the North Island - Wellington in fact, leaving here at 7 a.m. and getting back at 7 p.m. It is a half hour flight, and rather a hectic day visiting a government research lab. But the weather was fine and very good views of the North of S. Island, Cook Straight, etc. Love from us all, Philip April 27 - I start work tomorrow. I'm nervous about it- not for the work but for the arrangements for the children. Jonathan was so upset today- he has to stay to school lunch. He doesn't eat his food and always gets hurt. And he'll have to stay tomorrow and Thurs too. But most weeks it will be only 2 or 3 days. Andrea is going to her friend's house after play group until 2. Then on Thursday she starts at the Technical Institute’s Play Centre which will keep her over lunch. It’s very well equipped and staffed and near my work. After next week the schools have a 2 week break so Phil will have to stay home while I work. Then next term Andrea will be at this Play centre both Wed and Thurs. It’s very tiring and just thinking about it- but I expect it will work out. As long as the kids aren’t ill a lot. On Monday I was invited to a coffee in the neighborhood where we're moving. The people were so nice and they all seemed to play bridge so that's reason enough for the move. Philip had a good trip to Wellington. It’s a very enclosed city - all build on hills. The houses seem to have small gardens. The winds are very powerful. He liked the people he went to see - the local government scientists. He may go to consult with them again. It was a rather restful weekend We had one hard frost and it killed our corn on the cob which was doing so well. We bought some for 7 cents an ear which is lovely and barbequed it.
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