The Sutherlands lived in May Avenue which was a posh part of Napier. They had one daughter Shirley who was eighteen years old. They owned three outfitting and haberdashery shops in Napier and were New Zealand born but of Scottish descent. We had a fine tea and a good chat afterwards, we found that there was to be a dance that night in the town hall in honour of the Belfast visit. I asked if Shirley would go with me to the dance and she said yes and she would ask her friend to go with Gypsy Lee my mate.
The dance went down very well, it finished about midnight and I took Shirley home, I had a drink with her dad who had waited up and I said I would meet her the next night. I met her in town the next night and we walked along the cliffs, she told me the history of the town and how they used to go for holidays to Fiji before the war. They were hoping to go back to Fiji this year as the war was over and things were getting back to normal. I told her about my family and she promised to write to my mother to tell her I was OK.
My stay in Napier finally ended and as the Belfast left the jetty I waved goodbye to the Sutherlands, they had made my stay in New Zealand very memorable, I had promised to write to them and I would.
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