ANTARCTIC PARTY

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28158, 22 December 1956, Page 10

ANTARCTIC PARTY

Departure From Bluff ENDEAVOUR GOES SOUTH (New Zealand Press Association) INVERCARGILL. Dec. 21. The New Zealand Antarctic expedition. led by Sir Edmund Hillary. sailed from Bluff tonight on the first stage of an expected 12 to 14-day journey to the South Polar ice cap. Just after 11.30 p.m.. H.M.N.Z.S. Endeavour, the expedition’s ship, slipped her moorings at Bluff’s main wharf, and began to move slowly into the swinging basin. A crowd of about 1000 packed tightly on the wharf, sang “Now is the Hour,” “White Christmas,” and Maori songs as the lights of the Endeavour faded slowly down the Bluff channel. As she lay berthed at the Bluff wharf from 4.30 p.m. today, the Endeavour was a constant source of attraction for visitors from Bluff. Invercargill. and further afield. As the departure time drew near, the crowd swelled to considerable proportions. Most members of the expedition rejoined the shin about a quarter of an hour before the scheduled departure time. They crowded about the top of the gangway to wave to the crowd. The Endeavour moved slowly down the Bluff channel, the reflections of her lights shimmering on the still water Farewell greetings to the crowd were shouted over the Endeavour s loud hailer. Many of the spectators secured a “grandstand view” of the departure by travelling out on the tug Awarua. which brought back the pilot from the Endeavour. It is expected that the vessel will reach the pack ice in about seven days.