SIGHTSEERS AT LYTTELTON

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28153, 17 December 1956, Page 16

SIGHTSEERS AT LYTTELTON

Naval Ships Dressed With Flags SPECIAL TRAINS POORLY PATRONISED The Royal Yacht Britannia attracted a large crowd of spectators to Lyttelton yesterday. The Britannia, her escorts Pukaki and Hawea, and the Antarctic ship Endeaavour were all dressed with flags yesterday. So were all the other ships in the harbour. Viewed from the western end of the waterfront, the four Naw ships made an impressive sight. “ First, there was the sturdy - looking Endeavour, then the Hawea and Pukaki, and as a background the Britannia’s dark-blue hull, banded in gold, white superstructure, and pinnaces and the Royal barge in dark blue. Many thousands of films have been exposed by members of the public in an effort to record the colourful scene. Special trains were provided yesterday, but at no time were they full, and parking for cars did not present the problem that it has on some former occasions in Lyttelton. The wharves at which the ships are berthed were barricaded. Few Visitors on Saturday

The number of visitors to Lyttelton on Saturday was small. A few cars arrived in the morning, and a few more in the afternoon. Special trains run by the Railways Department were practically empty. In the afternoon, there appeared to be more police, traffic officers, and ambulance men on the streets and waterfront than there were members of the public. Members of the two Lyttelton divisions of the St. John Ambulance

Brigade who began duty at 1 p.m. were dismissed at 2.30 p.m . Conditions for the crowd who viewed the ships yesterday from the waterfront were far from pleasant. The strong wind raised clouds of dust from the rough roadway along the waterfront, and blew it on to the spectators and the visiting ships. Yesterday morning, the Britannia, which had remained at the oil wharf on Saturday because of the high wind, was moved to a berth at the east side of No. 4 wharf.

Damage done to the Britannia’s paintwork when she struck the oil wharf on Saturday, was covered yesterday with new paint.