LETTERBOX CORNER

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21876, 11 August 1934, Page 4 (Supplement)

LETTERBOX CORNER

IN THE FAR NORTH Dear Miss Morton,—l am going to tell you about the toheroas. These shellfish are found, on the edge of the tide. To find them we must watch for the sand shooting up in many places, and if you see that you will know they are there. Another way jb to watch for little tufts of hair sticking •up in the sand. The name of_ the place •where I live is Herekino. Juat in front of our house is a large mountain called Orowhana which in English means Sound ' Kick. Lost year a party of people set out to climb it, to see what they could find. After a search they came upon a cave to which they had to lower themselves by means of a rope. When they went inside they found a box of huia feathers, a skeleton of a Maori and two rifles. They took them home and have still got them. There is another mountain called Epakauri which means kauri gum. Upon this mountain, which is near Ahipara, a lot of gunidigging is done. Now I will; tell_ you about the Ninety-Mile Beach, which is in Ahipara, which means that long ago in the old days a big fire had been made there. The -beach is about 70 miles long. In the summer many people come to the Ninety-Mile Beach to camp and they bathe in its waters, which are very dangerous for bad swimmers. There is a store, boarding house, a post office and a lot of camping houses. A good many pieces of ambergris have been found lying on the beach. My sister found a big piece once which was worth £o. There_ is an old man w bo iB 84 years old stopping here and he told me that he was her© when Tamati Wakanene was here.—Your pen-friend, Jessie Burgoyne, .Herekino Hotel. Herekino. ORAKAWA Dear Miss Morton, —One of the most pleasant excursions I had during the last holidays was a trip to Orakawa ; As usual, I was up about an hour earlier than I otherwise would have been, cutting my lunch so as to be in time, which resulted in my being finished ages before time. Our • party was a small one—only three of us. After passing the Danish settlement we found the' road was very rough, but when walkine you have plenty of time to pick your steps. All went well until we reached the hills, when it was with many groans that we faced the obstacle. But after surmounting this, we had to go through fields covered with waist-high fern, tea-tree and blackberry, which was disastrous to our bare less. Then the track led us through eome beautiful bush, the cool dusk of which was restful after the hart glare of the sun outside. But our trials were not ended by any chance. "We had yet to descend a huge hill. Perhaps it was the force of gravity on my superior weight, that caused me to take it at a run, and to reach the bottom tirst. Suffice it to say I was having a well-earned 'i rest in the cool grass on the beach when the others appeared, carefully picking their way along. After lunch we wandered round , the rocks and up tho bed of the stream, after which we decided it was time to leave for home, but the sight of that hill disheartened us so much that we went over to the Waihi Beach and home that way.— Your sincere pen-friend, Phyllis Beck, Jolin■on Street, ,Waihi (age 15). MY HAPPIEST DAY Deir Miss Morton.—The happiest day I spent in the holidays was a Tuesday in the second week. It was a beautiful sunny day, the trees were waving to and fro in the cool 6ea breeze and _ the larkfi were soaring high into the air singing their merriest songß. In the morning I rode and at half past eleven I went on m> horse to get the mailbag. Returning home again I found that some friends had arrived while I was away. Hurrying round I helped mother to set the table. In about ten minutes we were a happy family all very busy eating our dinner. After lunch we went into town arid made two visits and then to other friends to tea. Later in the evening we went to tho pictures. "Rio Rita" was shown; it was lovely, and we enjoyed it immensely. Wo arrived home about eleven o'clock and I was very tired. I really think it was my busiest and happiest day.—With lovo from your loving pen-friend, Joyce Bayley, Private Bag. Tauranga. THE LETTER GAME Dear Miss Morfon.—Thank you very much for the .pretty membership card which I received to-day. I thought of writing to tell you of n, game we have been playing lately which I thought might interest some of the. other pen-friends. . First of all you cut out a lot oil small . pieces of paper, then on each one put one of the letters of the alphabet till you get twenty-six little tickets. You can make several ysets of these, then mix them all together. The players ait round and in turn pick out, a letter and keep on going like this till you get a word. Sometimes you Ret. quite a lot of letters and then when you get a vowel you can make quite a number of words. It is a good plan to have ft limit number and the one who gets up to "it first is the winner of the game.—Kathleen Littlejohn, Taupaki (age 10).