Web Only: Letters to the Editor - Issue 30

MY HUSBAND IS IN HOSPITAL for his first treatment of chemotherapy for throat cancer (he is neither a smoker nor a drinker). I was given a copy of NZ Life & Leisure by my sister.

I sat down to read it this morning and was very interested to see the article Run rabbit, run (Issue 28) as I am a spinner and felt-maker and this was close to my heart. It`s given me something else to focus on and for that I am very grateful.

My spinning goal this year is to hand wash merino wool lock by lock and spin it into a very fine yarn so your story had great timing. I have entered the draw for the book (John Perriam’s Dust to Gold). If I`m not a winner I will be hunting down a copy to buy. Thanks for a top-class, well-timed piece.

Raeleen Bain, Te Awamutu

I REALLY ENJOYED the article about Yvonne Marsters, the only European woman on tiny Palmerston Island in the Pacific (The island where everyone knows your name, Issue 29).  The idea of living on such a beautiful island always seems idyllic but it must take a certain sort of person, like Yvonne, to adapt to such a different lifestyle.  I cannot imagine what it must be like planning the shopping list for five months at a time or waiting to use the communal telephone.  And possibly, like Yvonne, many people don't realize how isolated paradise is until you need a hospital or dentist in a hurry. 

Still, it seems that hurrying is the last thing on most of the islanders’ minds. The stunning beauty of the island is clear to see from the photographs of the lagoon and surroundings.  Yvonne does sound as if she was destined to go to Palmerston Island one day – she certainly has the right surname!

Julia Butler, Hawke’s Bay

I LOVED READING YOUR LETTERS about chooks and sympathized with Dean and Louise in Wellington  (letter on website) about having to put their chooks in a run as dogs had killed their free-ranging hens. Even living in the country, we still have the same problem. I have lost seven hens in the past year due to neighbours’ hunting dogs wandering onto our property and having a field day.

It's very frustrating as we have kept hens for the past 30 years and they feel like part of the family. They are so tame and completely helpless when it comes to dogs – they don't very often manage to outrun them. So now we have them in a large run and let them out for only a couple of hours at night. It's a shame but, hey, I've had my new hens for two months now and no losses!

Gaylene Donaldson, Tauranga

AFTER FINISHING THE NOVEL I was reading over the Christmas break, there I was at the family bach stuck for something to read. My sister-in-law offered me her NZ Life & Leisure magazine. She had received it as a gift subscription for her birthday the previous year and often raved about the great articles but I thought it was probably just another dull magazine.
I am happy to admit that I was WRONG! And how appropriate was it that the first article was about a bloke and his bach? Thanks for a great read with well-considered stories and relevant topics. I will be picking up a copy of the next edition as soon as it hits the stands.

Quinn Gardiner-Hall, Waiuku

THE HOLIDAY ISSUE was great – inspiring tales of New Zealanders' “runaway places” as diverse as the Kiwi beach house in Gironde, France and Kevin Milne’s retro, timbered caravan. But for me, the prize story had to be the account of Yvonne Marsters' life on Palmerston Island "where everyone knows your name". It brought back memories of the two years I spent as a teenager in a remote part of Fiji where we lived without electricity, cooking in a camp oven over burning embers with supplies coming by boat from Suva every couple of months. Our entertainment was a horse ride to a nearby village to go swimming in the creek and enjoy a feast of prawns in coconut cream with huge lumps of taro and stewed greens.
By contrast, my latest overseas sojourn was to Britain. It was a wonderful five months, but as the days grew colder and the autumn nights drew in, it was very pleasant to be returning to a New Zealand spring. How blessed we are to live in this part of Pasifika! We enjoy a cornucopia of good, fresh food, a healthy lifestyle and (for most of the year) a great climate. Issue 29 was a fitting celebration of this Good Life.

Diane Davidson, Pt England