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Then ( via Gatwick - - I know you wo n't believe it , but it 's true ) to Salerno in Italy , just south of Naples , for a seminar and a weekend . Within three days she had chosen her courses , found a house very near the university with about six other students ( it varies ) , and was working part-time to support herself . But do n't worry : you wo n't get a copy - - there are 150 pages and we ca n't afford such a large printing . In a lovely southern drawl we were told of a woman who was invited in by a lady on whose door she had knocked , seated herself , leaned towards her host and informed her , " Honey , your husband 's been cheatin ' on us ! So Pam organized a trip around the south part of the North Island , volunteering herself as tour guide . Etc etc. " Well , let me tell you , the Logan Pass - - or at least the Logan Pass experience - - has improved immensely in the last 20 years . After a detailed interrogation at the US border about what was on the menu for our picnic lunch , we found ourselves inside the immigration building eating the cold roast beef out of our sandwiches , closely observed by hostile uniformed officials . He 's practicing to be a pirate , and quite often exclaims " avast me hearties " and other nautical expressions . But we are getting way ahead of ourselves . Of course , Mum has had to get used to living all by herself , which is not easy . Overseas for fifteen months , she had a great time in Calgary ( we had left her there at the beginning of her trip on returning to New Zealand ourselves ) , London , where she lived in a house in Ealing with fifteen Kiwis , visited Ian 's family in Northern Ireland and Pam 's brother near Toulouse , and then returned to Calgary - - where ( as we reported last year ) she got her old job back , working in a health club , and seemed to be very happy . Over the years our many visitors have toured New Zealand and returned with wondrous tales : on this trip we checked some of them out ourselves . One liked to sit and eat grass , the other to chase squirrels ; so with a leash in each hand Pam found herself stretched to the limit in order to satisfy each cat 's requirements simultaneously . Her big trip was going to be a long weekend in Opotoki ( and you ca n't get less exotic than that ) with a friend in September , but this got cancelled because of widespread flooding and road closures . It is truly lovely , and - - incredibly - - we had the bay to ourselves . Next year we will tell you of our exploits and how we left Anna there to fend for herself ( very successfully , by all accounts ) while we returned to New Zealand . ( Which reminds me : having arrived at the airport to catch a plane in New Zealand you first proceed to the chicken disk . Apart from weddings in Christchurch , Ian found himself performing at places ranging from a rather dingy jazz club in Hamilton with his trio , through the University Club , to the Waikato Sympathy Orchestra .