Pat investigated, and found the radiator leaking onto the leads - if we had water in the radiator we had no lights. At Msasa farm we stopped and called to the owner, who refused to answer at first. Eventually Pat reassured him of our identity, and he lent us a hurricane lamp which we strapped on. It proved to be useless, however, as it went out as soon as we moved. So resignedly we carried on on that narrow, winding dirt road, and I leant out of the passenger window and shone the feeble light of my 1/- torch onto the bank at Pat�s side.

And then as we crawled slowly along, the battery fell out onto the road. I had given Pat a leather suitcase with two straps for a wedding present, and now one of the straps had to be sacrificed to tie the battery on again, and slowly we resumed our journey. Somehow we managed to reach the hotel, where we thankfully accepted Olive Allott�s offer of accommodation, and got home next morning.

Our first callers were Dr and Mrs Rose and Dorothy, and I was pleased to have some of our wedding cake for tea. We never had the sundowner parties which I had envisaged, and for which in our grocery order from Aytoun I had included a tin of special Marmite savoury biscuits, but we led a social life as well as our busy farm life.

We played tennis on the courts next to the Gwasha, and slowly I got to know people. Cattle Inspectors Hans Heyns and Brink Albertyn were there for dipping, usually on horseback, and police patrols were regular. On one trip to Umtali we gave a lift to Ann and Annabel Olivey, and Annabel said, as we drove through drift after drift: �My daddy�s car has to stop for a drink all the time.� Ann was to see Dr Montgomery, but she funked it at the last minute. Perhaps if I�d been more experienced I�d have talked her into seeing him, but it didn�t occur to me to do so - with sad consequences.

Pat went to Farmers� meetings and I sat on the hotel verandah and knitted until one day Olive Allott persuaded me to join the Ladies� Entertainment Committee which met at the same time as the farmers and did all the catering chores needed - our sub was 2/6 a year.

Besides the pickup, the farm had a 5-ton lorry which I often happily drove into the village. Mr Bredenkamp saw me, and later took Pat aside and said seriously: �Don�t let your wife drive that big lorry, or she may never become pregnant.� How little he knew. In due course I asked Smithy, our policeman, about getting a R.hodesian driving licence, and he said: �You should have applied before now. But I�ve been watching you drive everywhere without one, and you�ll have no problem in getting one.� Mine was issued in Umtali in December 1938 - more than a year later.