Pacific Travel Exciting Despite Limited Funds

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31380, 27 May 1967, Page 5

Pacific Travel Exciting Despite Limited Funds

(Syeetally written for "The rrete" by

KATHLEEN HANCOCK)

The word Kiwi has become an uncommonly apt term to apply to the New Zealand traveller since the introduction of the new overseas currency restrictions. His wings have become vestigial, and if he can get off the ground at all his flight will be - strictly limited. For the moment long distance travtel is for the other birds.

But a few bright patches appear with a closer look at the travel scene. The Pacific is an exciting area. Scattered over the ocean within three or four hours’ flying time from New Zea>land lie dozens of island communities whose customs and cultures are as varied as they are strange. Within the currency restrictions tte New Zealand traveller can visit the last sizeable British colony, a “department” of France, an independent Polynesian democracy, or a Franco-British condominium. He can see a little India in the cane country of Fiji; sip an aperitif in a French cafe in Tahiti; shake hands with a bushman straight out of tte stone sge on Espiritu Santo; or eat himself to a standstill at a Samoan feast Wide Variety In this circumscribed area he can mingle with half a dozen different races, sample an astonishing variety of cooking, lead a life of lighthearted sophistication, or get right down to the basics on an isolated atoll Witt all this available, who cares about Europe and the United States? Or the Far East either? It's more amusing to explore tte island) most of us have overlooked till now. Those not too distant dots on tte map offer new sensations to the eye, the ear—and tte nose. The weather will vary a bit, but it will certainly never be cold. And oh, tte bliss of having only one kind of clotting to pack—tropical, light, informal Old travel hands who have been driven to tte brink of madness trying to fit a summer, winter 1 and in-between wardrobe into 441 b of suitcase wiU know exactly what I mean. Travel Allowances Let's have a look first of all at tte travel allowance available, and get some idea of how far it will take for how long. The New Zealander can

now expect to receive £6 a t day for tte first fortnight and 1 £5 a day thereafter. There is a total limit of £2OO if he has been abroad during the last three years. But if he has made no sppllcation for overseas funds within that period, he 1 may take £6OO in foreign cur- 1 reney out of tte country. 1 However it’s not so much the > total sum. avallsble as tte 1 daily allowance that’s import- 1 ant—not so much how long > you can stay abroad, as 1 whether you eat while you’re 1 away. < Your travel allowance must 1 cover your hotel accommoda- 1 tton and meals, side trips, i entertainment, and all the .1 odds and ends of laundry, 1 ' fruit, bus fares, taxis and so ' ' on that turn up when you ' 1 are on holiday. Tipping, i ' luckily, is almost unknown in ' * tte area we are considering. ; It is discouraged in Fiji and ’ Samoa, forbidden in New 1 ' Caledonia and New Hebrides < : and Tahiti. 1 i ! Package Tours i For the moment wo will i have to forget about souvenirs , and the presents. As a matter of fact at least two days may be added to the holiday simply because funds for i friends and relations are i not available. i Enterprising travel agencies - have dreamed up a range of - bargain partage tours that : cover a wide area. If you like i the cosy feeling of group i travel, these are a good idea, : at any rate for tte first time round. And most Pacific tours i allow a generous number of . free days. But if you . like travelling alone, you can still have a good i time on an unfamiliar . island within the present I restrictions. A little foreI knowledge is an invaluable . thing; so art around, read t books, collect all the folders i and pamphlets you can find. It is not always true that [ two can live cheaper than ! one, but as a general rule tte .old saw holds good in tte p islands. It applies particularly . to French possessions where r the charge for the second occupant of a room with bath may be anything from one quarter to one half the daily rate. At some inns upcountry I in New Caledonia you can - get a room for as little as 25/t a day or 30/- for two—without r bath. I can vouch for the tiny i Hotel Banu at La Foa where

the ablution block was spotless and the cooking superb. Buses Are Cheaper Half tte battle against debilitation of tte wallet is won if you’re happier on a bus with the locals than alone in a taxi. Generally speaking, it’s not done to bus in Fiji. But more and more enterprising tourists are cutting across this tabu, and certainly funds-consdous New Zealanders will have no hesitation in joining tte locals on the buses. And they’ll see a lot more than the taxi-borne tourist whose contact with the people of his chosen island is at arm’s length. In Fiji, a varicoloured rooster or a piglet in a sack may occupy the nextdoor tap. On “lo truck,” Tahiti’s famous form of transport, strings of gleaming fish will hang from the roof at the rear. Sometimes on an inter-lsland launch you may even find a goat among your fellow passengers. If you enjoy buying a hand of bananas from the market in Suva, a baton of crusty French bread from the corner grocer in Noumea, or an avocado from a roadaide stand in Papeete, you will not suffer unduly on your restricted allowance. You’ll drink a bowl of kava thrust through a bus window by a big brown Fijian hand, drink cooling milk from a coconut decapitated by an amiable Loyalty Islander, eat a luscious paw paw pressed on you by a coal black busbman on Espiritu Santo. And you won’t be allowed to pay for any of these. Good Manners Throughout tte Padfie friendliness, good mannen and a smile are the best currency of all. But a false boohomie will get you nowhere. Your islander may often bo unable to read or write, but he can recognise a falsa pose at a hundred paces. Paradoxically, fewer funds can mean more fun, less time wasted shopping, a better chance to taste tte real flavour of an island holiday. So take a plunge, count your pennies, and fly off into the Pacific. You’ll come beck with a woni derful tan. All ttoaa knots . will be untied. And thanks : to tte currency restrictions, ' you may even loee an inch i or two off your wairtiina