At the start of 1930 Bertie and Meta are busy at Wahroonga clearing the plot of land, then pegging out the house, cutting down trees and planning a garden.  They hope for a June wedding, but are finding it difficult to save. Then fence posts are put up and wires around their boundary.

By February Bertie is more pessimistic about their finances, as the timber trade is doing badly, and his salary has been cut.

By March they realise they will have to postpone the wedding.

Bertie takes a short break with Mr Thresher in the Blue Mountains, horse riding in Burragong Valley (see photos).

In April the plans for house building are postponed, but they continue to tend the garden and plant a hedge and bulbs.

By May Bertie is expressing uncertainty about his job, and on 26 May his letter tells his family that the company is in the hands of the liquidator.

His letters in June contain several references to his hopes to take over the Tentest Agency, but by July these have faded.

There are no letters saved for the period August to November.

In late November Berties goes on a trip with 2 friends to peg out a mining claim on the west of the Blue Mountains.  This is described in his letters home in December, and also in an account "Gold Rush".

In late December he is planning another trip inland with friends for "Gold Prospecting" (see 1931).