Bio: Stewart, Jana (New Zealand Trip - 1974)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Stewart, Short, Macky

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 9/05/1974

Stewart, Jana (New Zealand Trip - 1974)

Jana Stewart, 18, of Madison, and granddaughter of the Ralph Shorts of Rt. 1 Neillsville, returned home Monday from a two-month stay in New Zealand.

Jana was not an ordinary tourist there, and she had opportunity to taste more of the life of native new Zealanders than the ordinary tourist. She got into the “back country,” lived with a native family and did what the natives there do.

The result was that she returned home with a far more intimate knowledge of the country and its people. One of the things that impressed the young Wisconsinite is the fact that far more land is given over to gardens than lawns -exactly the reverse of what happens in the United States. Also, it probably is a direct result of the fact that the land is limited there, and gardening provides fresh vegetables in abundance which otherwise would have to be shipped in.

Located on the other side of the Equator, Jana’s “summer” visit to New Zealand gave her another dimension of life there. It was cold and damp, and this, Jana admitted she did not find as pleasant as the 85-degree summer days she forsook in Wisconsin.

Jana’s interest in horticulture, and she is studying this in the University of Wisconsin-Madison. So, it was natural that her interest in New Zealand tended toward growing things.

While in the land down under, Jana was a guest of Suzanne Macky, who was an international Field Service student in Jana’s former home, Verona. While there she visited Miss Macky at Massey University, and was a guest at the University of Waikato.