A HAPPY HOLIDAY

Southland Times, Issue 23828, 27 May 1939, Page 5 (Supplement)

A HAPPY HOLIDAY

—PRIZE—

It was May 5, and my ears were listening for the four o’clock school bell, which would herald two weeks’ holiday. How excited I was, for on the morrow, I was to travel to Dunedin, where I was to spend my fortnight’s vacation with my grandparents, who reside at St. Clair. , , . St Clair is a beautiful suburb of Dunedin, and being near the beach, I spent a lot of time there. There is also a children’s playground with swings, see-saws, slides and other attractions, and here I spent many happy hours. . I was very interested in the trams and cable-cars, and 1 visited many places of interest such as Normanby, Opoho, Logan Park, Anderson’s Bay, Maori Hill, Waikari, Roslyn, Kaikorai, Mornington and Mary Hill. It was very exciting going down Mary Hill in the cablecar, as it is the steepest hill in the Southern Hemisphere on which cable-cars run, and many people are afraid to go down in the cars, and prefer to use “Shank’s pony.” However, I enjoyed it, and went down it on three occasions. Dunedin, being hilly, is a very pretty place, and a sight I will remember, is coming down in the cable-car at night, and seeing Dunedin lit up with myriads of lights. ... On Friday night we visited the city shops, and again X saw pretty lights of all colours. They made the city look so beautiful. I also saw the capping procession when the University students, dressed in all kinds of costumes, marched through the streets. Most of the vehicles were decorated in a comical fashion, and caused much laughter as they wended' their way along the streets, which were thronged with spectators. I had another very interesting day, when I, with several others, visited the Hudson, Cadbury, Fry factory, where all kinds of chocolates, sweets and biscuits are made. It was wonderful to see this factory, which turns out thousands of boxes of chocolates a day, and where five hundred are employed. It was wonderful to me to see work done so quickly. On leaving the factory the guide gave the children a cake of chocolate each, while the older members of the party were given a box of chocolates.. < _ „ . Another day I climbed Jacob’s Ladder at St. Clair and went to Cargill’s Castle. It was a glorious morning, and I had a splendid view of Dunedin. , Altogether I had one of the happiest holidays I have ever had, and was sorry when, on Saturday last, I had to say good-bye and return south to Invercargill.

—Prize of 1/6 to Cousin Victor G. C. Jones V.A.C., (8), 71 Conon street.

—PRIZE—

My playmate has a little fox-terrier named Patsy. We spent all our holidays running up and down the street with her. She had a litter of puppies and every night at five o’clock Patsy would go into the wash-house and bring them out for us to play with. We ran round and round the yard pulling a sack after us with the puppies trying to scramble on. Every time we stopped the puppies would scramble on the sack, and then Patsy would pick up the comer and tip them off. This would go oh, for quite half an hour; then she would carry them off to their bed again. —Prize of 1/- to Cousin Elaine McCleery A.C., (7), 193 Ritchie street.

—PRIZE—

“All seats please,” shouted the guard as he marched along the platform. There was a great scurry as everybody hurried to their seats. Among the many passengers was Pat, a short fair-haired girl with sparkling blue eyes, who was on her way to Timaru, where she was to spend the holidays with her aunt and two cousins. There was a loud whistle and the train moved slowly out of the station. It was not long before Pat had her nose in a book. At Milton Pat bought a bottle of lemonade to quench her thirst. On arriving at Palmerston, she hurriedly secured a few sandwiches which satisfied her until she arrived in Timaru, where she was met and warmly greeted by her aunt, who had arranged for a taxi to take them home to Kenwood. The next week was fine and sunny, so the three children spent it at the beach. Most of the time was spent in the surf and riding on the merry-go-round. A day was spent at the gardens where the children fed the deer.

After having a very happy holiday, Pat said farewell to her relations and journeyed home. —Prize of 1/- to Cousin Eleanor Brown (11), 34 Thomson street.

—HIGHLY COMMENDED—'Last Christmas holidays, I stayed at my auntie’s place, at Kaka Point, by the sea. It is about 15 miles from about five swings and one slide. There is a good beach there with about five swings and one slide.

One day we were driven by my uncle to Puke Falls about 22 miles from Kaka Point. When we got there, we looked in the bush for a suitable place to have afternoon tea. When we had finished, we walked two miles through the bush, and,

coming to a steep part, we heard the roar of the falls as they plunged down. When we reached an open part of the bush we stood and looked at them for a while; Not content with this, we stood on a rock to get a better view. Wanting to get home before dark, we started to walk through the bush, very soon reaching die car. On die way home, we decided we would go home a different way, making the trip more interesting After a happy holiday I went home.

—2 marks to Cousin Dorothy MacGibbon (10), McNab.

—HIGHLY COMMENDED—

During the holidays I went to the country to stay with my grandmother. I took some old clothes with me so that I would not need to worry if I got them dirty or torn. I used to go with uncle and help him when I could. As there were some other children staying with my grandmother, we played games and had lots of fun.

—2 marks of Cousin lan McEwen (8), 87 Morton street.

—HIGHLY COMMENDED—

Oh what a wonderful holiday I had during the summer. After all the excitement of helping mother to pack, we were on our way to the seaside. Our first night we took a walk to the wharf where boats come from all over the world. We loved watching them unload. Then what a lovely swim we had every morning. Mother brought our lunch, and then, during the afternoon, catching fish was exciting. Ona day a war-ship came in, and we saw the young sailors salute our Union Jack. It was wonderful. The captain stood at attention.

From where we were staying we coul<i see the boats go out, and we used to get out of bed and watch them. The lights on the boats are lovely. When our fortnight was up we were sorry to go home. —2 marks to Cousin Rose Marie Heslin (10), 130 Conyers street.