Overview
Leslie Adkin’s trip to Hastings continues for the first week of March, and he attends a number of social events with his fiancée Maud Herd. The pair visit Riverslea and have a picnic on the ‘old’ Ngaruoro River, take a trip to Napier and enjoy the Municipal Baths, stroll around the Hawkes Bay A & P (Agricultural and Pastoral) Show, and picnic on the Ngaruoro Bridge. Leslie, a keen photographer, takes numerous photographs during his holiday, focusing in particular on his darling Maud and her ‘most charming figure.’
Leslie returns to his father’s property Cheslyn Rise, near Levin, on the 7th, and finds the dipping in progress. Other farming activities this month include mustering and drafting stock for sale, fencing, clearing land, and sowing the previous month’s ‘burns.’
Leslie prepares to take over the North Block, and this month opens an account with the Bank of New Zealand. He sets up camp with one of the farm workers, Anstice, in a rough whare on the block, and works on clearing and fencing the boundary between his land and his neighbour Kay’s.
In his spare time Leslie enjoys reading novels, and he is also a regular church-goer. This month the church hosts a harvest festival, and is decorated for the occasion.