In Search of A House Te Mahi Rapu Whare by Sid Mead naa Hirini Moko Ko wai o koutou e moohio ana ki to teenei mahi ki te rapu whare? Ahakoa kei whea te taaone he mahi nui teenei. Naa, mehemea he taaone tino nui peenei i a Aakarana nei, kaatahi ka tino uaua rawa atu. E hara hoki i te mea he Maaori anake kei te kimi whare. Kaaore, he Haamoa, he Rarotong, he Hainamana, he Mangumangu, he Paakehaa, me ngai taaua. Ngaa momo tangata katoa o te ao e piirangi whare ana, inaianei tonu, moo raatou. I te marama o Nooema i te tau 1962 ka tiimata maaua ko taku hoa wahine i te mahi nei. Tuatahi ka tuhia e maaua he karere hei paanui i roo nuupepa. Ko nga koorero o te paanui nei i haere peenei. ‘E hiahia ana teetahi whaamere moohio ki te tiaki whare, noo Hamutana, ki teetahi whare e toru oona ruuma moe, moo te tau kotahi e rua raanei. Me tuku ngaa whakautu moo te paanui nei ki too maaua kaainga. Ko te waea 89613.’ Naa, ka tatari maaua ki ngaa whakautu. Tino kore rawa teetahi i tae mai. Tuarua, ka tiimata maaua ki te titiro i ngaa nuupepa o Aakarana ki te waahi paanui i ngaa whare moo te tuku. Naa eenei ka moohio maaua i ngaa utu moo te wiki e piirangitia ana e ngaa kaituku—e ono paauna, e whitu raanei, e waru, e iwa, tekau tae noa ki te tekau maa rua paauna i te wiki. Ka raruraru o maaua whakaaro i te nui rawa o te utu. Ka tiimata te whakaaro mehemea ka taea e maaua Who of you have experienced this task of searching for a house? No matter in what town, this is an arduous affair. If the town should happen to be a very large one like Auckland then the task becomes even more difficult. You see, it is not only the Maori people who are searching for houses. No, there are Samoans, Rarotongans. Chinese, Hindus, Europeans, as well as ourselves. All breeds of men are today wanting houses. In the month of November 1962 my wife and I started. We began by publishing an advertisement in the newspaper. The message of the advertisement went like this. ‘A good living family from Hamilton would like to rent a three bedroom house for one or two years. Send replies to our home address or ring 89–613, Hamilton.’ Then we waited for the replies. Not a single one came. Next we began examining the advertisements section of Auckland newspapers. From these columns we learnt how much rent was being demanded by the owners—six pounds, or may-be seven, eight, nine, ten and upwards to twelve pounds per week. The high rents troubled us somewhat. We began to wonder whether we could still manage to pay our bills, for food, power, telephone rentals, and such like. We looked at the papers every day. Now here is one which may be all right—six pounds ten shillings is the weekly rental.