_LIVING IN NEW ZEALAND._
Sunday had now arrived--our first Sunday in Auckland. It is kept, as in
England, as a day of rest, except by those unhappy individuals who are
unfortunate enough to reside near a Salvation Army barracks! There is
no rest or peace for them.
Early in the morning we heard the distant sound of martial music, and
imagined that some volunteer corps was going to hold church parade; but
as the sounds came nearer we were undeceived--no volunteer corps that
ever existed would consent to march behind such ear-torturing noises.
I hurried out and found that the disturbing sounds proceeded from the
Salvation Army band. I am told that these Salvationists do a good deal
of good: if they really help people to heaven with the awful apology
for a band they at present possess, surely they would do a vast deal
more good if they had better instruments and more practised bandsmen.
The big drum, cornet, trombone, flute, and other instruments take a
leading position in their ceremonial, and should therefore be put on
a thoroughly efficient footing. If this were done, many persons who
now rush away holding their ears when the Salvation Army band is heard
approaching would stay, if only to listen to the music.
We attended service at St. Paul's Church, and had scarcely returned
when Mr. ---- called. We found him very gentlemanly and agreeable. He
dined with us, spent the afternoon, and gave us a good deal of valuable
advice. He said the roads were far too bad for my wife to think of
going up country yet, and recommended my securing a house in Auckland
for three or four months, and after seeing my family settled, that I
myself should take a trip to the new township in order to see what I
thought of it, and then make my final arrangements.
This advice appeared so sound that I determined to follow it
implicitly. On Monday morning, therefore, I started out on a house
hunt, and with little trouble succeeded in finding a suitable verandah
cottage in the suburb of Parnell. My goods by this time were landed
and stored in a warehouse near the wharf, so before our week was up at
the lodgings I had them removed to our new home, in which we were soon
comfortably installed.
Parnell is undoubtedly the aristocratic suburb of Auckland. It is
as pretty as aristocratic, and I trust we sufficiently appreciated
the honour of being the temporary possessors of a cottage within its
precincts.
Several retired naval and military officers, and gentlemen from other
of the recognised professions with small private incomes, reside there
with their families, and form a society, agreeable, enjoyable, and
exclusive. There is not the least doubt that New Zealand is a grand
country for English people with certain tastes and private incomes of,
say five or six hundred a year. I don't refer to those who are fond of
theatre-going and such like vanities, or those who place cookery among
the fine arts, for, as I have already hinted, New Zealand is no place
for them. The persons I mean are the lovers of outdoor amusements,
such as riding, sailing, fishing, and shooting, and those who like
their rubber of whist, their chat and game of billiards at the Club,
and their social, unceremonious evenings with their friends. The happy
possessor of an income such as I have indicated could own a house in
town and a place also in the country, where he might with his family
pass the summer months; his country property need cost him nothing
to keep up, for he would have no difficulty in finding a respectable
working-man tenant, who, if allowed to live rent free and work the
land, would not only look after the place and keep fences, &c., in
repair, but would willingly keep his (the owner of the property's)
horses in horse feed all the year.
If he selected the north Kaipara district, his property would be
bordered by the inland sea, and he could keep his five-ton cutter
sailing-boat, and enjoy the most delightful water excursions up the
numberless beautiful creeks. A two-roomed shanty, costing about £30,
would be ample accommodation for the working-man tenant.
But I can imagine my reader exclaiming, "Living must be much cheaper
than in England to enable people with moderate competencies to thus
have within their reach almost all the enjoyments which fall to the lot
of rich county families?"
It is not so, however: the necessities of life, with a few exceptions,
are on the contrary dearer in New Zealand than at home, but the
out-of-door pleasures of life are _infinitely cheaper_. Small
properties of twenty or thirty acres planted, fenced, and laid out in
paddocks, orchards, &c., with a good six or seven roomed house, and
outbuildings, can be bought for four or five hundred pounds; decent
hacks to ride at from seven to ten pounds a piece; and a good second
hand five-ton sailing-boat for between twenty and thirty pounds.
Children can be fairly well educated in the private schools of Auckland
at far less cost than they can be in England.
In New Zealand it is not necessary to keep up the same style as in the
old country--a man is not supposed to keep a wine cellar: he eschews
top hats, kid gloves, &c.: his dress suit is more likely to deteriorate
by moths than by wear: he lives plainly, and dresses so: his clothes
which are too shabby for town he can wear out in the country--no one
will think him one whit less a gentleman if he appears in trousers
patched at the knees. Set dinner parties are not fashionable, though
pot luck invitations are. To gentlemen and ladies who cannot enjoy
their meal unless it is served _à la Russe_, I say--Stay where you
are!--but to those who can enjoy a good plain dinner plainly put on
the table, and are contented to drink with it a glass of ale or a
cup of tea, the usual colonial beverage, and who are fond of outdoor
amusements, I emphatically cry--Come! this is the country for you. You
can have your own and country house--your horses and your sailing-boat,
your fishing and shooting--and can save money. Ay! and invest it
profitably too, if you keep your eyes open.
I trust the kind reader will excuse the foregoing outburst, and accept
my assurance that I am not a tout for a land company. I am anything but
in love with land companies now. But to resume.
My family being now in comfortable quarters, I started on my journey to
"the town that was to be," in which all my hopes were centred.
The railway jerked me as far as the village of Hamilton, some
eighty-six miles from Auckland, in a little over five hours and
three-quarters, I having travelled _by the fast train_. From thence I
was conveyed to Cambridge by coach, and was soon settled _pro tem_ in a
comfortable hotel. I had still thirty odd miles to travel, and had been
puzzling my head all day long how to manage it, as I feared I should
never find my way riding by myself; but here luck befriended me, for
to my great delight I found a party of surveyors, four in number,
staying at the hotel _en route_ for the very place. I speedily made
their acquaintance, and was informed they had hired for the journey a
four-wheeled trap, called a buggy, and would be very glad to have me
for a travelling companion, as they had a spare seat. I need scarcely
say I joyfully accepted their kind offer, and we were soon on the most
friendly terms.