My husband was an accountant but at that time qualifications from other countries were not accepted in New Zealand. So in order to sit the accountancy papers again Alf had to live near a University. Eventually we bought an old house in Eastbourne, Wellington. Alf worked for British Petroleum during the day and did his revision at night. Naturally our friends and relations were rather confused as we had so recently lived in Eastbourne in England! The house was solidly built, but I was dismayed to see that in the laundry there was only a copper. Speaking to my neighbours I was told that washing machines were new imports here and that only one firm in Wellington handled them. On enquiry I found that there was no hope for me to purchase one as they already had a very long waiting list and only a few came in every three or four months. My endeavors to light the copper brought no results, so a kind friend came to show me how to light it. After a while it was alight and I was told to keep stoking it. This I did and eventually it came to the boil. But then I realised that there was no way that I could switch it off! It continued to boil until the laundry floor was covered with soapy suds. What a mess!! My frustration knew no bounds. How was I ever going to cope with this problem every week? So I sat down and wrote a very sad letter to the company in England that had supplied my washing machine there. In full detail I told them of my frustration and of the result of my attempting to work with the copper. I begged them to please arrange for a machine to be sent to me as soon as possible. My friends thought I was wasting my time and that I would have to wait probably about a year for my name to come up on the list. Imagine my surprise when a large box arrived on Christmas Eve containing a lovely new washing machine!!! Oh the relief and then the jubilation!! No more frustrating hours to spend with the obnoxious copper. That WAS the most welcome Christmas gift I have ever recieved. Much later some neighbours showed Alf how to make beer using the copper, so it was eventually put to good use! |
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