114. Vignettes of Family Life in New Zealand: (9) Hot Pools in Waiwera, Snow in Happy Valley, Winter/Spring 1974

On the Devonport Ferry, Winter 1974

57, Sunnybrae Road, Takapuna, 14th June 1974*
    Dear Mum and Dad,
    Thank you for your letter of 28th May.
    Lewis' convulsions have not been connected with any special traumas or frights. He had two while we were in England but both were connected with sickness and were brought on by a sudden rise in temperature. The two here were not related to sickness in any way but were probably the result of getting over tired, he's a great rusher about. We've not had a TV since we came to New Zealand so it had nothing to do with horrors on children's hour!
    We are now entering our 'winter' which is marked by the period between two bank holidays, that for the Queen's Birthday, a fortnight ago, and Labour Day in October. Queen's Birthday was a beautiful clear day with very little wind and since it was a little cold for the sea we took the children to Waiwera, about 20 miles north of here, to the open air hot mineral pools. They had a marvellous time and we couldn't get them out of the water. It was warm enough to have a picnic lunch in the gardens that surround the pools - there are six pools of varying depths and temperatures, some for swimming in but mostly for just sitting in and relaxing - and very relaxing it is too.

    I have been very busy at the university this week. On Monday we started a new ten week lecture course on Industrial Democracy, on Tuesday I had to give a lunch-time talk to the Auckland Rotary Club and on Wednesday we were involved in running a management course for one of the local hotels.

27th June 1974
    Dear Mum and Dad,
    Many thanks for the marvellous birthday present. I have been meaning to read August 1914 for a long time but never got round to buying a copy - books are relatively expensive here. It's a massive tome and I hope to find time for it during our August break if not before. Pat has already got started on it so I won't get a look in for a while! Thank you too for the copy of Solzhenitsyn's address sent to the Nobel Prize committee.
    I had a very pleasant birthday. Pat and I went to the pictures the evening before to see The Sting which we enjoyed and on my birthday itself we all went to Waiwera (again) to enjoy the hot pools - that looks like becoming our favourite winter trip.
    Nothing much is happening here. We are all busy with work and school. Last night Pat and I went to see the teachers at Sunnybrae School to hear how Sacha and Stuart are getting along - pretty well on the whole. Stuart is very good at reading but careless with writing and spelling, particularly when he can't be bothered. He spends his lunchbreaks reading playlets with a group of friends (mostly girls) - seemed a good thing to us but the teacher obviously thought he should be roughing it around in the playground! Sacha, as you might imagine, is a real livewire at school. Recently her class went down to the Auckland docks and had a most interesting day there. Before she went Sacha thought a Wharfie (i.e. a docker) was some kind of monster!
    We have had some correspondence with Sheila Tan about jobs in New Zealand but unfortunately we are not able to help her much as we cannot cull much information about the employment prospects for Medical Secretaries. In general, however, jobs are plentiful and there are still no registered unemployed in Auckland.
    Lewis' pills seem to be stimulating him - he is the terror of the playcentre at the moment as he and a little friend, Richie, rush all over the place at a frantic pace - the supervisors will heave a sigh of relief when he goes to kindergarten which should be in a few weeks.
    Sorry for the delay in finishing this letter. Today (June 29th) it has been so warm that we have been sitting on Takapuna beach - in the middle of winter!
    Love from us all,
    Pat, John, Stuart, Sacha and Lewis.

Stuart in middle in blue jumper with his eyes shut.

Sacha sitting second from left.

27th July 1974
    Dear Mum and Dad,
    Thank you for your letter of 14th July with all your news - you certainly keep very busy.
    The Paddington Bear story has arrived safely and I'm sure Stuart will be very pleased. He identifies with Paddington because the bear is always messy and does silly things and eats a lot and makes people laugh - just like Stuart. He has quite a collection of the books now. I don't know what to suggest for presents. We seem to have so many things already and have the C.S. Lewis and A.A. Milne paperbacks. Last weekend we made a sort of puppet-theatre out of old bits of wood that the PlayCentre didn't want and Stuart in particular likes doing "theatricals" which may give you some idea for books. Books are still the best present really because they are that much more expensive here.
     Teachers do seem to be better paid here, although it is difficult to compare because the tax rates are higher here. I earn about £6000 before tax. Buying apples in 20lb lots at the Albany orchards costs about 5p a lb and a couple of weeks ago we bought 20lb of Chinese Gooseberries at c. 8p a lb.    Lewis has started at Kindergarten this week and likes it a lot. It is very well equipped and there is plenty for him to enjoy. The two staff seem very competent. One of them got married this week and Lewis came back saying that they had been throwing food at her. Pat asked him if it was rice? "Yes" he says and after a pause "and spaghetti"! But the spaghetti was really confetti.
    Today was Open Day at the University, so we went there this morning with the children. Stuart and Sacha found plenty to interest them. The engineering school had some working models going, the computer centre was also open and there were various film and drama activities to see. Yesterday evening we had a visitor from Nottingham University, a geologist, to dinner and the children made a great fuss of him.
    We have received confirmation from the YMCA that we can go to their chalet in the Tongariro National Park from Monday 26th August to Friday 30th August. We will be sharing with a number of other families since the chalet sleeps 32 people. It is near Mount Ruapehu just above The Chateau which was a big hotel I sent you some pictures of last year. The children are looking forward to seeing some snow and it will make a lovely break for us before the third university term starts in September. We have also been planning our summer holiday and hope to stay at Rotorua, then on Lake Taupo and then go to New Plymouth for a few days.

YMCA Chalet, Tongariro National Park, 27th August 1974
    It is spring in Auckland now and a couple of weeks ago we had a lovely sunny day on the beach at Long Bay. Then we went for a trip to Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf, about ten miles by ferry from Auckland. We stayed a night with some friends near Onetangi and had some lovely walks. Now we are back in the middle of winter. Yesterday we drove down to this chalet just above The Chateau - it was a beautiful drive through rolling green countryside with hundreds (literally) of tiny new born lambs about. Last night there was quite a heavy fall of snow here and the children woke up to a real Christmas card scene with snow on all the trees and Mount Ruapehu, which is over 9000', at the back. This chalet is at the height of 3800'. This morning we had to fit chains on our car to drive up to 'The Top o' the Bruce' at 5300' where the skifields start. There are beginners slopes in Happy Valley and we all played there for a while, sliding down the snow on plastic sheeting rather than hiring skis and things. The children had had enough after about an hour by which time we were getting cold so we came back down again for lunch. This afternoon we drove down to Turangi to find somewhere to stay for our summer holiday and then came back to the chalet for tea. As well as the fantastic skifields here there are also many beautiful walks, and the views when the clouds lift, as they did this morning, are fantastic (again!).

Sliding down Happy Valley

    We are here as part of a group of 32 - twelve adults and 20 children. I think ours enjoy playing with all the others as much as anything. Lewis is the smallest so gets made a fuss of but since they all sleep communally - boys one end, girls the other - they keep each other awake at night and get everyone up first thing in the morning! Each family provides its own breakfast and lunch and then there is a menu for the evening where everyone brings the same food and it is all cooked together.

Wednesday
    To-day it is bright and sunny but with a very cold wind so we are going for a walk near The Chateau. Last night when all the children were in bed we played Scrabble, the first time for some years!

Mt Ngauruhoe (upper); by Lake Taupo with Ruapehu in the background (lower).

    Schools are on holiday now for two weeks and the university has a three week break. I don't know if I told you but I expect I shall join the Department of Management Studies in time for the 1975 academic year. We have already been planning the courses that I will teach, all of them third and fourth year courses in the Bachelor of Commerce degree. My principle teaching next year will be on Industrial Relations and Manpower Management. Because of my change of department my study leave arrangements are likely to remain a bit vague. Management Studies is a new department with only three staff at present and so some difficulty in covering staff leave. It is my intention to apply for leave in 1976 but next year is definitely not possible. I am sorry to disappoint Stuart if he was anticipating that I would be at his wedding. We also want to be able to afford to bring all the children too since it is unlikely at present that either you or Pat's parents will be coming to N.Z.
    Lots of love from us all, Pat John and children.

5th October 1974
    Dear Mum and Dad,
    It seems ages since we heard from you so hope you are both well and have settled  in at Church Road after the move. Last time we wrote was when we were at National Park and we posted the letter at the Top o' the Bruce on Mount Ruapehu so hope it arrived safely.
    The children are back at school now and Lewis is at kindy. They enjoyed their holiday at Ruapehu. We drove back round Lake Taupo on the most beautiful day as you will see when you get the slides. Auckland seemed quite smoggy after the lovely clean air in the mountains. We are hoping to go again next winter.
    The papers are full of gloomy stories about Britain's inflation and not very optimistic that the General Election coming up will solve anything. Hope its not that bad. Mr Kirk's death** was a great shock to people here, especially the Maoris who were very fond of hi. Love from us all,
    Pat, John, Stuart, Sacha + Lewis.

27th October
    We have been very busy here since we came back from our holiday at Tongariro National Park in August. We are now in the third and final term of the university year with about another month to go. It has been the busiest term for me with classes on four evenings of the week. This weekend, however, is Labour Weekend and tomorrow, Monday, is a bank holiday so we get a bit of a breather. Labour Weekend is generally taken as the sort of sign that summer is here - rather like May Day - so everyone is busy with their gardens or boats or whatever. Our latest addition is a tree hut in one of the tangled willow trees of our garden, constructed for Lewis primarily from odd bits of wood and from pieces of bamboo from the clump that grows along one side of our garden. The main use of the tree hut at present seems to be as a jailor for cops and robbers games with Stuart as jailer and Sacha and friends as internees.
    I was interested to hear that Stuart (brother) was doing some teaching at the Barbican. I spent quite a lot of time there when I was working for John Laing's on a project back in 1966 - they were one of the main contractors for the development.
    Thank you for the skipping rope you sent for Sacha's birthday and for the I-Spy books. Sacha had a pair of roller skates for her birthday and has been stumbling up and down our fairly long drive gradually getting the hang of it. Lewis and his friend Nicky take a skate each and sit a piece of board on them to ride down on. Plenty of spills.
    We have had a couple of outings since coming back from National Park. One splendid day climbing Rangitoto in the Hauraki Gulf. It is about 45 minutes by boat from Auckland and about a two mile climb to the summit from where you have marvellous views of the whole of the Gulf and the city of Auckland. We went with Alaister and Margaret Scott and Andy and Julie and also with the Smith family who were visiting here from the University of Southampton - Fred Smith used to be on the LSE staff and played cricket with Alaister and I in South London. We have also been to Wenderholm for a picnic, very peaceful with all the Kowhai trees in flower and yellow and green everywhere. And one rainy Saturday we all went to see The Three Musketeers at an Auckland cinema.
    Pat and I have also been out a bit. One evening we went to Rangi Walker's to a farewell party for Pare Mills who used to teach at the Centre (of Continuing Education) and was returning to Oxford. It was a very Maori occasion with lots of singing and speech making. Last week we welcomed another Maori to the staff of the Centre - Rev. Charlie Matai who is taking a leading part in the educational activities associated with a new Maori marae (or community centre), the Orakei marae in Auckland. In November I am going to another Auckland marae for a management seminar designed to discuss problems faced by Maori and other Polynesians in industry.
    Love to everyone from Pat, John, Stuart, Sacha and Lewis.
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*   For the origin of these letters see Love, Death and Letters from My Mother's Hut, blog 30, 4 February 2012.
** Norman Kirk was Prime Minister from 1972 to his death on 31st August 1974 following a heart attack; he was 51.
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Previous blogs in series
Vignettes of Family Life in New Zealand

    1.    72   Summer 1973-74 (incl. Queen at Waitangi), 13 November 2013. 

    2.    78   Summer 1979/80 (incl. Mt Erebus disaster), 27 November 2013.

    3.    80   Summer 1986/87 (incl. holiday, Pakatoa Island), 5 December 2013.

    4.    82   Christmas/New Year 1975/76 (incl. broken arm; dunking off Motutapu), 17 December 2013.

    5.    85   Christmas/New Year 1977/78 (incl. new ventures, Tutukaka, Whale Bay), 28 December 2013.

    6.    87   Christmas/New Year 1990/91 (incl. holiday, South Island), January 2014.

    7.    97   Winter 1987 (Rugby World Cup, Tikitere, Fairy Springs), 31 March 2014.

    8.  106   Summer 1982/83 ( Horse Riding in Ekatahuna: Milford Track Washout), 26 July 2014.

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