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| Pakatoa Island in the Hauraki Gulf |
[Previous blogs in this series: 72. Summer 1973/74; 78. Summer 1979/80 (includes Mount Erebus disaster). Both November 1973]
112 Point View Drive, R.D.1, Papatoetoe, 12th December 1986
Dear Mum and Dad,
You probably thought we had fallen through a hole at the bottom of the world but not so. It has been a hectic few weeks since we have now moved back to Point View Drive - the street has been renumbered so that 42 is now 112. After the tenants left early in November Linda and I went over to clean the place up (it was filthy) ready to sell. I put ads in all the papers and just before they came out Linda decided the place looked so good perhaps she could, notwithstanding all the ghosts of Mary, live there after all. In fact she decided she would like to especially if we could spend a bit of money on it. So everything went into reverse and we told enquirers that it was no longer on the market.
...two weekends ago we moved, with Lewis' help... We can't get the cars in the garage for all the junk but are actually living there. Linda is still working at 3M in Milford which is a journey of about 35 minutes and on Weds, Thurs, and Fridays collects and drops off Kate and Harriet at Milford School. They love the idea of living in Point View Drive and are busy trying to think up a new name for it to replace Sugar Mountain. Naturally I am pleased to be back there since it is a lovely spot. The major snag at the moment is that my stupid tenants had the phone disconnected when they left and they have to recable the street before we can get a new line which won't be until next February at the earliest which is maddening.
What we plan to do when we have some money... is to add on a couple of extra bedrooms underneath for Kate and Harriet. It is only two bedrooms at present so it is a bit cramped as you can imagine in spite of the size of the living areas. We also want to redecorate some of the present house, especiaslly the master bedroom so are busy looking at wallpapers/carpets etc. And if there is any money left over we will do some landscaping.
We are both exhausted but should get a break now with Christmas coming up. Love to all for Christmas.
John and Linda xxx
9th January 1987
... We had Kate and Harriet from Boxing Day until January 7th so they are with their father at present. It seems very quiet without them. It was John's turn to have them for Christmas Day so Linda and Lewis and I had Christmas dinner with Linda's folk in Birkenhead - her Mum, Dad, sister, nephew and an aunt. They have got a rabbit for the girls and are bringing it over this Sunday. Stuart went camping over Christmas with some friends from work... Lewis stayed for a few days with us but then went back to Rothesay Bay so that he could get to his work. Not having a telephone makes it difficult to keep in touch but I shall be back at work on Monday 12th and will catch up with them both then.
On Boxing Day we collected Kate and Harriet and then on the 30th went to Pakatoa for five days returning last Sunday. Perfect weather all the time, sunny and hot and very relaxing so we went swimming and played games and generally had a nice time. We feel we have now exhausted what Pakatoa has to offer so next year will try something different. I have been home all this week and have started to tackle some of the jobs that need doing outside in the 'garden' - very overgrown but it will gradually come back to its normal wilderness look with the help of some judicious moving of the goats... when autumn comes and it is a bit cooler I will do some more planting out of trees and shrubs and try and tidy up the driveway which is a mess.
We are making some changes on the job front too. Linda is going to go to Law School starting in February... She already has the qualifications for the Law Intermediate so will need to do three years for an LLB Honours and then one year of articles to be fully qualified for the bar examinations.
I have resigned as Head of the Department of Management Studies so will now carry on as a normal academic at Associate Professor level as before. This will allow me I hope to get on with some written work for publication and free me of a lot of tedious administrative chores. The job was not very stimulating and at the end of the year we got into a lot of politicking about the appointment of a new Dean for the Faculty. The whole process and the outcome disgusted me so much that I resigned and I'm glad I have.
Sacha sounds very chirpy in her letters and I gather she is having a good time and surviving the cold of winter OK.
We thought you might like the enclosed photos of Kate and Harriet to add to your growing collection of different 'bits' of the family.
22nd March 1987
The earthquakes in the Bay of Plenty did not affect us here, not even the slightest tremor. There has been a lot of damage but fortunately no one killed or even badly injured. Things are getting back to normal there now.
Lewis is here this weekend, busy with his homework and Linda is preparing cases for her Law classes... Kate and Harriet are playing with Richard from next door - he is seven and Amber must be eleven now. Last weekend was the community tennis day which was very pleasant... We went out to Hunua to see John and Lynette* and the twins a few weeks ago; they have a nice big new house but not furnished yet. We called in to see Anita and Neil** but Anita wasn't home but she is fine and only on six monthly checks now with the Dr.
Love to you both from all of us here, John and Linda xxx
[* Mary's son John and his wife Lynette; ** Mary's sister Anita and her husband Neil.]
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| Harriet and Kate at their new bedroom windows |
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