PICNICKERS DISAPPOINTED.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 306, 26 December 1924, Page 3

PICNICKERS DISAPPOINTED.

I A QUIET BOXING DAY, HOLIDAY TRAFFIC LlQ^j j SOME EXCURSIONS CANCER Empty wagons and carriages on trains arriving in Auckland this momj ncr showed that hundreds of holiday a ' picnic arrangements must mavefjujg. ' carried, after the night's downe pour. The city exports to gee tlle 1 country folk hero in force on t Day; but the wcpther upset things p rp ° per'ly this year, and it. must be a !„„„ c time since people listened to £ > downpour of rnin on Christmas o r I woke np to such a dismal prospect on the I following morning. Thousands of pj c . t nickers were disappointed, and hundreds of little excursions had to be abandoned The sight on the early trains \rj g j n [ striking contrast with the beginning of the week: every morning the Frankton t train that arrived at fi o'clock had its t platforms and carriages thronged with , visitors. This morning the. platforms , wore deserted, and inside the carriages j all was quite. It seemed that only , I the people who had to be stirring car ] v j I were aboard; holidaymakers and picnic , groups wore conspicuously absent. I n . I side the dripping wet. carriages was a l sprinkling ot' travellers in wet overcoats . and on the racks were enough umbrellas I to do credit to any group of a hundred or . so Aucklanders in winter-time. Clearly there was something wrong with BoxinW Day. b The trains and buses had a similar ■ experience. Queen Street, even at eleven o'clock, when it has usually b<. cn crowded for at least three hours with throngs of picnickers and excursionists out to enjoy the big day's holiday of the year, was anything but busy. The tramcars, many less than half filled, andsome with only five or ten passengers, were , obviously having no trouble about accommodating everybody. And, as the people got off near the intersection of I Queen and Customs Streets, or opposite the Post Office, there wore few of the baskets usually associated with the equipment of Boxing Day travellers in Auckland. No one seemed in a hurry to catch a ferry or steamer, and the only thing that struck one as out of the ordinary at the Ferry Buildings was the sight of people sitting or standing aimlessly about, without any particular intention of going anywhere. Good holiday traffic was reported ou the shorter ferry runs to the North Shore; but the traffic on the longer runs was extraordinarily light. Few people asked for tickets to Motutapu and Brown's Jsland, and only a small number to Kangitoto. Launches left for the more popular beaches during the morning; but, owing to the weather, runs to the more distant resorts had to be cancelled. i =