VICE-REGAL TOUR OF ISLANDS

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27368, 5 June 1954, Page 7

VICE-REGAL TOUR OF ISLANDS

Sir Willoughby Norrie Visits Aitutaki

(N.ZJP.A. Special Correspondent Aboard H.M.N.Z.S. Black Prince) (Rec. 10 p.m.) AITUTAKI. When the Governor-General (Sir Willoughby Norrie), Lady Norrie, and Miss Rosemary Norrie arrived at Aitutaki by air from Western Samoa this afternoon to begin the second leg of their Pacific Islands cruise by sea, the Black Prince fired a 21-gun Royal Salute in their honour. The Black Prince will carry the ViceRegal party on the rest of the tour as far as Tonga. From Tonga they will return to Wellington in a Royal New Zealand Air Force Sunderland. The cruiser was anchored off the main island in the Aitutaki lagoon when their Excellencies arrived. They were to arrive at Aitutaki at 12.40 p.m. from Samoa, but head winds delayed the aeroplane, and it arrived nearly one hour and a half late. The delay to their Aitutaki programme meant that they boarded the Black Prince after dark. The helmsman of the launch which took the Vice-Regal party from the main island in Aitutaki lagoon out to the Black Prince had to do some skilful piloting to avoid coral reefs in the darkness.

The launch made a half-mile journey from the shore to the ship through treacherous coral shallows with the aid of a coral spotter, Who stood with a hurricane lamp at the bow. As the launch crept through the narrow channel Sir Willoughby Norrie peered through the darkness to watch the operation closely. As the Vice-Regal party drew alongside the Black Prince the people of Aitutaki were treated to a sight which has not frequently been seen even in New Zealand ports. In their Excellencies’ honour the cruiser was silhouetted in details with myriads of light globes, against the calm tropical night. It was a magnificent sight The Black Prince left Aitutaki at 6.10 p.m. for Rarotonga, where it is due at 5.40 a.m. tomorrow. Sir Willoughby Norrie and Lady Norrie Will spend two days at Rarotonga.