Foundations of a New Life

During all this, Francis was aware of what was happening within him.

The deep doubt and homesickness that at times almost choked him cleared at last, and he knew that he would work and work until he had a home and garden and farm for when his parents and brothers and sister arrived in less than a year. That was what his parents had promised, and he would be ready for them. Time out here did not mean much; what mattered was how much he could accomplish between sunrise and sunset of each day.

He came to expect his helper daily, and he was not disappointed. Francis was no longer wary of the brown-skinned friend with the tattooed face, although he admitted to himself at times it was a savage-looking face and he had been told of the savagery of this race, but now he had complete confidence in his friend, helper and teacher. Between them, a small two-roomed shingle-roofed cottage was built. It was well that the weather kept fine during most of this time. Koro had had experience in this sort of building and it was soon snug and weatherproof. The roof was shingles cut from the nearby trees and the walls were mud. Pride beamed from both faces as they stood back and surveyed their work. The furniture in this, their first home on the farm, was mostly converted packing cases.

Next began weeks of hard work enclosing an area around the house for a garden and orchard. The enclosure had to be secure and was a big job cutting trees and making palings by the hundreds. The fence was built with the palings almost touching to keep out the pukekos and the wekas. It was while this work was going on that Koro showed Francis how to snare wekas. He snared two, one for Francis and one for himself. He showed him how to cook weka on the hot stones, leaving the feathers on when putting them on to cook.

Time went by very quickly for these two. Koro was happy working with Paki and very happy too when he received half a crown. Soon there was a large area in garden. Rows of vegetables in one area were showing through while further along were all the fruit tree cuttings, seeds and small trees Francis had brought from England with him.

Koro liked a day now and then to go across the river to the shops. With his money he bought tobacco as well as other more luxury goods. He had a share in a small canoe and at times I go with him to get stocks of flour, sugar and other necessities.

I bake my own bread in the camp oven. Today Koro went to town. I worked all day on my own and when I got back to my house, I found a flax basket with sweet potatoes called kumara by my door. He must have left them before he went to town. I am very happy.

Koro came and told me of a half-draught horse that was for sale, so off we went and bought it. I think it was a good buy and will be a great assistance on the farm, moving posts, battens and help with the clearing. The horse is strong-looking but needs some better feed. As soon as possible I will get some oat chaff from the general store in town. With my two helpers we will make good headway on making the farm.

Letters to his family home in England were few and far between, but Francis did send quite a bundle about three or four times a year. The mail from home gave him great joy and excitement and renewed hope that they would soon be united. As he wrote his letters he told them of all the exciting things of life on the new farm, hoping all the time that it would help his family to make the journey more quickly.

Time slipped by. He suddenly realised that he had now been in New Zealand eight months. One evening after a very satisfying day he sat down at his homemade meal table by the light of the kerosene lamp and without realising it, in his thoughts began summing up all he had accomplished.

It was mid-winter, but as yet he had not felt the cold. The winter had been a dry one and he had a little fireplace where most of his cooking was done Māori fashion. The camp oven though was used mostly indoors at night for bread making. The embers were shovelled on the top of the round camp oven lid as well as heaped around the sides.

Candle making was no problem to Francis, but his use of these was limited to the outside lantern as he preferred the kerosene lamp light. He had saved fat free of salt and after melting and putting it through muslin, he poured it into the candle mould which had been threaded with a wick. The mould consisted of six tubes the size of candles joined at the base by strips of tin.

Again his thoughts turned to what he had done outside. His garden and orchard were thriving. Quite a few acres had been fenced. The plough had been assembled and less than a week ago he and Danny the horse had ploughed one small paddock. It was hard going for just one horse but Francis found the shallow ploughing was sufficient. The soil was loamy and easily broken up, so he looked forward to the cultivation of larger areas in the near future.

The next planned job was to be the building of a fowl house. He had already used many weka eggs but a permanent supply of eggs and birds to eat would be a great advantage. He had bought a red and white cow which was due to calve in about three weeks. That meant that a dairy would have to be built with shelving for milk pans as well as a butter churn and other equipment. Some of the equipment such as the large round milk pans he had not brought with him, so a trip to town would be necessary. He had the small round tin cream skimmer and the butter pats, so would soon have some milk and butter for himself as well as milk for the calf.

His thoughts turned happily towards his family twelve thousand miles away. He was deep in thought, picturing the organisation that must be going on in readiness for the trip. Had his father sold the farm yet? Was his mother still happy about making the trip? And he hoped their financial position was in good order to cope with such a big operation.

They must have received by now his long letter setting out all that he had found necessary to be brought with them. He had instructed his mother to bring as much furniture and all household supplies as was allowable. He was very happy when he considered their likely time of arrival. He believed it would be between November and January and what a welcome this lovely land of sunshine would have in store for them. It was every bit of what he had been told before he left. They had said they hoped to come within a year, and that time was now drawing near.