Glenalvon, Auckland
Easter Day Apr 15th /06
My dear Father
A Vancouver mail leaves here on Wednesday so I must send a Budget home by that before we leave here. We are having such lovely weather for Easter the thunder storm on Thursday seemed to clear the air and bring fine weather for it has been fine and warm ever since. I see by the paper that you are having exceptionally warm weather for April. It is five o’clock now so your Easter Day is just about to begin while ours is nearly over. I can only think of what you are doing in the mornings and evenings, the rest of the time, from about 11 am to 7 pm, I can only imagine you in bed and asleep!
Auckland is looking its very best in this lovely weather, I like this place very much and shall be quite sorry to leave next Wednesday. I told Mrs Scherriff who keeps this house, how we were enjoying our stay here and she said she was so pleased to know that all the trouble she takes to make the house comfortable is appreciated.
I find Easter in the autumn not so strange as Xmas in summer, it is easier to imagine this as springtime than that summer is winter! If you see Mrs Adkins you must tell her we have seen her nephew and his wife. It was very kind of them to take us a drive yesterday – we enjoyed it very much. Mrs Adkins is particularly pleasant and friendly. Her husband came out about 5 years ago and I think they have been married four or five years, they have a little boy of three. We seem to have quite a lot of acquaintances here and it fills up our time very agreeably going to see them. On Tuesday we are going to tea with some nice people we met at Rotorua. There is always plenty to do here to fill up spare time. The Art Gallery contains some very nice pictures and other works of art, the Library too is interesting and also the Museum which is quite close. Then there is always the harbour to look at and boats coming and going. One doesn’t feel so far out of the world here as in other parts of N.Z. It seems ridiculous that the Frisco mail should take two days to reach Wellington from here, it goes by boat to New Plymouth which takes one day by train from there which takes another day. They cannot improve matters until the grand trunk Railway from Auckland to Wellington is finished. They have been working at it for some years, but the country they have to take it through has never been opened up at all and it takes a long time to make the line and they cannot finish it for another two or three years.
Tuesday Apr.17th We have just got back from an expedition to the Ostrich Farm and I must hurry and finish this to post this evening as the Vancouver mail leaves tomorrow and we are off by the 10 o’clock train for Taumarunui where we start the next morning down the Wanganui river. We ought to get to Marton on Saturday, Auntie has heard from Mary today. She says they have carpenters in the house so it is as well that we decided to go to the hotel and go in and out to see them. Auntie thought it would not be very convenient to them to put us up. I expect you are very busy in the garden now, I wonder how the tennis lawn is progressing - I must write up my diary now to end with this so goodbye for the present.
Much love to you all from
Your loving daughter
May E Sladden
