a mix of petrol and kerosine. Repairs to the buses were done at night to keep them running and the tyres pumped up by hand. The fare was 2/6 (25 cents) for adults and 2d(2-3 cents) for children. In the late 1930s a bus took youngsters to Howick to attend pictures at the Monterey Theatre. The route to Howick was via the small Pakuranga post office, which stood on farm land opposite the present western entrance to Pakuranga College. In those days Maclean Road was just a grass walking track. The Bucklands and Eastern Bus company grew from this with its headquarters next to the bowling green at the foot of Devon Rd. From 1962 this was managed by the Wells family who lived opposite the headquarters in Devon Road. Both the Howick and the Bucklands /Eastern buses were owned by Mrs Cherry (formerly Mrs Hadfeld). About 1940 the Roberts family who lived at Pakuranga built a brick home cookery on the corner of Devon Rd and The Parade. The Robert's daughters were both very good cooks. The bakery was very popular with American servicemen on leave during World War II. Agriculture From 1935 the central peninsula including the area of the present primary school was farmed by Pop (Herbert) and Edith Ellen Leach, Edith Leach's parents Nan and Frederick Burton, who had accompanied their daughter Edith to New Zealand in 1919 from Kent, England, and their children Allan, Bert, Gladys, Joan and Mick, who ran a dairy herd of 30–40 cows. The Burton/Leaches lived in the old 2-story Buckland managers homestead which was located on the rise in what is now Clovelly Road, at about number 151D. An old concrete structure referred to as the dairy was still on the site up to the 1963 development. This was a solid concrete structure about 4m by 5m by 3m high, with a wooden floor that had rotted away. The concrete used the shelly sand off a local beach. In the 1960s there was no roof left. Next to the house was a large wooden barn. The cowshed was located on the flat area near the present tennis club near Eastern Beach at about 7 Jern Place. Attached to the cowshed was accommodation for a farm worker or people on holiday at Eastern Beach. As the Leach/Burton family had the use of the large Buckland house this was not needed so