Memories of New Zealand Apr – May 1940
24th April 1940
…to do. Darkness has fallen now, as we come towards the end of the canal, and so nearer to the Pacific. This end of the canal is fairly thickly polulated, and a road runs along the edge, where American cars seem to be continually dashing along. The last three locks are reached at last and down we go until we reach the level of the Pacific – then out into the wide wide sea.
Never do I wish to see a more amazing or interesting sight, from an engineering point of view, but one day is quite long enough to stay there May 11th 1940
AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND
In my walk up the main street, I saw what seemed to be a nice spot of country, so I made for it. It is a lovely walk because the road winds round and round like a corkscrew, so you are getting a continually changing view the whole time. When I reached the top, I discovered that it was called Mount Eden. It was really lovely and being a lovely day made it all the better. In the distance is nothing but mountains and nearer the shore it is quite flat and is covered with houses. These houses are all made of wood and have red roofs (now and again, green). Trees grow in between and all the gardens are well set out. The roads are straight and broad. The prettiest part is at the bas of Mt Eden. There I think is the most select part. The view from Mt Eden is certainly magnificent. Numerous inlets can be seen and on both sides the water stretches several miles inland. I hope to spend the whole of tomorrow just drawing from the top.
The Maori children run about the streets with nothing on their feet. They are very pretty in their own way. The ordinary people seem quite nice. Several people teased me about having a gitl in every port when I posted eight air raid letters at 1/6 a time! The whole place is nothing but a mass of interest. I shall find it hard not to spend a lot of money. The chief operator by the way, has just got stone drunk.
May 13th 1940
Today, I took a bus trip round Auckland. At any rate it gave me a pretty good idea of what Auckland is really like. Starting at the docks (at the beginning of Queen’s Street), we made for Mt Eden. We passed by the world’s largest single span ferra-concrete bridge, and also the largest hospital in North Island (200 beds[AA1] ). Going along the Khyber Pass, we came to the Mt Eden prisons. I understand there are very few N. Island people in them. From here we went straight up the corkscrew road that leads to the summit of Mt Eden. Clouds hung very low over the mountains at first, but it soon cleared. Coming down again, we soon passed the Epsom Girl’s Grammar School. It hardly looks like a grammar school, but is very nice and modern. Another school that we came to was the Dilworth[AA2] School for Boys. This is a lovely place, and is set in very nice grounds indeed. From here, we made for the Ellerslie[AA3] Race course. 15 acres, cost £10,000 per year, and employs 15 gardeners. The gardens are open all the year round. Soon we were on the homeward run along the Tamaki Derive, and Waterfront Road. It is along this road that the Maori’s keep one village. This has been allowed by the government, provided they keep it in good order.
NOTES:-
My impression of the people is still very much the same as it was when I first set eyes on them.The girls are ugly, a clumsy rough[AA4] sort of people, for the most part; and the men aren’t much better. The man who showed me over the Auckland University, although he was born in England, has lived most of his life out here, and he agrees with me, that the people here are totally different from those at home. This is rather curious because according to statistics, 98% of the people are supposed to have originated from the English. Again today, I have heard bad reports of the New Zealand people from another man who was born in England. He says they have high wages, but they don’t know how to spent it. Their mentalities are very low, and the children are allowed to grow up with hardly any restraint. He also said that the reason why there was so much stealing etc., was because they are no longer taught the Bible in schools. This was rather strange because he swore as he spoke and yet seemed… [Ended here]
[AA1]Check this – could be 700.
[AA2]https://www.dilworth.school.nz/
[AA3]https://www.ellerslie.co.nz/