IN response to the letter from Sue Grew (Readers' Mail, August 29), I met Sue in a village supermarket in Takaka, South Island, New Zealand, in November, 1993.

She was stacking shelves earning extra money to come to England to visit her grandmother.

Sue heard my husband talking to me about what provisions we needed to buy in order to stock up our motorhome for the next leg of our four-week tour of South and North islands.

She asked where we came from.

The conversation went something like this: "England," we said.

"Whereabouts in England?" Sue asked.

"Between Liverpool and Chester," we replied.

Sue asked: "Whereabouts?"

"Bebington," we finally said.

Her reply was that her aunt and uncle lived in Bebington! What a small world. Sue had recognised a Wirral/Merseyside accent, thousands of miles from her home town of Birkenhead.

We exchanged addresses and corresponded by letter and more recently by e-mail.

Unfortunately, her grandmother died before her recent return, but we managed to meet up and spend five very happy hours together. I can recommend getting in touch with Sue, if you are an old friend - she is a great new friend to me.Thanks, Sue, for keeping in touch.

S. Elston, Bebington.