A public meeting was called, just after church on Sunday. A little coercion there, because it had been arranged that the bus would not bring the worshippers back home until after the meeting at the school was finished. The attendance was most gratifying; the meeting was told that the cost would be £6/7/6 per head, as well as a large school committee subsidy. A deposit of £2/10/- per head would be payable immediately. The meeting voted in favour. Furthermore, the head teacher suggested that all those children who wanted to go on the tour would need to have a full school uniform. For some years, successive head teachers had tried to persuade parents to buy uniforms for their high-school pupils, but so far always without success. There were some minor disagreements as to the style and colour of the uniform; some people had bought garments they imagined to be the uniform; in actual fact no two pupils dressed alike. A fashion parade was held at which the children showed off several different possible uniforms. The meeting again agreed that uniforms should be bought, chose red blazers, three-coloured monograms, all the usual accessories, but no boys' caps (for the sake of economy). All sternly insisted on black stockings for the girls. Raising the Money In this way we had agreement in principle for the whole plan, but it was still as uncertain as before whether the tour would really be supported. Community behaviour, as usual, was ambivalent. A few staunch supporters paid the deposits, others said they definitely did not have the money, someone sent in 10/-, one of the girls started doing odd jobs and bringing the head teacher such amounts at 4/3, 10/6, once every few weeks. The headmaster himself offered some boys odd jobs around his house at so much per hour, to encourage a spirit of sturdy enterprise in the earning of the necessary cash. But this, including the uniform, was now up to £25 per pupil. A circular was sent out asking people to list what uniform items they wanted the school to order for them. This produced some further, again inconclusive, evidence. The two things that gradually won over the people were probably these: in the previous year a group of school children from Matakana Island (near Tauranga) had visited Punaruku and been billetted in local homes. The children's desire to make a return visit fell within the Maori idea of valid sentiment, especially as everyone in the community knew the Matakana children and could visualise them. Furthermore, the head teacher and the school committee had managed to buy a film projector last year; the weekly films shown with this projector provided the only entertainment in the district. This had established much good will and confidence in school enterprises. A Programme Is Prepared Meanwhile the tour programme took definite form. The first night, in deference to the large Mormon majority, would be spent at the Church College, near Hamilton—the community was thrilled at this. The next night we would stay at a Maori meeting house near Rotorua, thanks to the help of the Department of Maori Affairs. Late in the third afternoon (a Friday) we would cross from Tauranga to Matakana for our return visit. As the head teacher attaches great value to regional geography, this part of the tour would be used for a study of three regions, Northland, the Waikato, and the Volcanic Plateau, with a look at the Hauraki Plains on the way back. Soils, farming, industries, and population centres could be looked at as we travelled, with special stops for hydro-electric stations, various thermal phenomena, and the pulp and paper mill at Kawerau. The tour was so timed that after a weekend at Matakana Island (for sports, a concert, and a free day), we would reach Auckland in the middle of the Auckland Festival. We would spend a generous amount of time on music, drama, opera, and exhibitions at the festival, and at the same time visit a few factories, offices, the museum, the planetarium, and the zoo. In this way the tour would serve practically all the subjects taught at the high school—geography, English, science, commercial practice, clothing (as a large office and clothing factory were on the schedule), Maori studies, music and art. It would give a varied picture of life in New Zealand. The Financial Effort Just before the end of the first term, nine deposits had been paid, as well as some partial deposits; others again had signed agreements to let their children go, but added no cash. The Department of Maori Affairs had provided a subsidy of £20. One could expect either a last-minute rush to pay in the necessary money, or last-minute community verdict to drop the whole idea. Both were equally possible. However, about this time the tide began to turn. One could begin to feel the pressure of community feeling in support of the tour. A social committee of the Ngati Wai began to raise money by subscription, and by organising a dance and a hangi, collecting £22. The first school uniforms arrived; as decided by the school committee, these were supplied on payment of only one-third deposit, the rest of the money being collected after the tour. The appearance of the first red, monogramed blazers in Punaruku convinced the people that the school really meant business. Children began to receive money from older brothers working in town and other absent relatives. Now the head teacher ordered uniforms on