Deep into New Zealand

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We are starting our journey of 800 miles North to Auckland starting with a visit to where Judith was brought up on sheep farm started by her Grandfather in the late 1800’s, she was taking me right back to the European roots of this country.


Back in those days most of NZ was covered in forest that the British were clearing to sell as farms that would produce wool and then with the discovery of freezing in 1870’s new coal ships would take the frozen lamp to London to feed The Southern English.


There were about 100 ships that did this and it made up a large part of the economy for a many years.




The farm split in two is 2000 acres in size and has thousands of sheep on it, back in the 1800,s there were no bridges across the river and roads were tracks, this must have been a hard life and yet rewarding in the beautiful landscape with slightly warmer weather than Southern England.



Judith’s father was in the New Zealand RAF flying transport planes and like so many wars from The Boar War, World war one and two was there fighting for Britain, they are an amazing loyal brave people to us Brits.



It was at the end of the war Judith’s parents met in London, married and in a ship full of only 800 newlywed women (and a few sailors) Edith sailed to start a new life on the farm catching her new husband up who had been dispatched back to NZ 5 months earlier 10 days after they married.




Enjoy the pictures and remember Edith had left the flattened East End of London for this.

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Comments

[matt]

great stuff dad, keep them coming