ISLANDS CRUISE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 26, 30 July 1938, Page 6

ISLANDS CRUISE

MAUNGANUI RETURNS

PICTURESQUE EVENTS

Laden with weird shells, tapa mats, and fancy baskets of varied-design and colour, the 250-odd tourists who arrived at Auckland yesterday- morning from a three weeks' cruise to the Society Islands, Samoa, and Tonga. by the Maunganui looked fit and well. Passengers said it had been difficult, while basking in tropical sunshine with a temperature of 85' degrees in the shade, to realise, as was reported by radio, that New Zealand had been in the grip of winter storms.

Leaving Auckland on Thursday, July 7, the Maunganui had a good trip, to Rarotonga. Unfortunately owing to the outbreak of measles on that island, passengers were not allowed to land there, and after discharging mail into a lighter she proceeded to Tahiti, which was reached on' the morning of July 13. The harbour and town of Papeete presented a beautiful sight in the early morning sun, the high wooded hills behind1 the town forming a perfect background. The visit ,to Tahiti fell at a most opportune time as the Fall of the Bastille celebrations were being held there while the Maunganui was in port, The whole town was beautifully decorated. l , Dances were held in the public squares and were carried on throughout the night, and there were exhibitions of javelin throwing and torchlight processions. On the Thursday there was a. most impressive march past of troops in connection with the celebrations.' The presence of the French cruiser Regault de Genouilly lent colour to the proceedings, and several returned soldiers who were passengers on the Maunganui were invited by the French authorities to take part in the proceedings, which culminated in the placing of wreaths on the monument erected to the memory of Frenchmen and Tahitians who fell in the Great War. ' ' The Maunganui sailed at .6 a.m. on the Friday morning for the island of Moorea, about ten miles^rom Papeete, where the day was spent picknicking and bathing.' The.next port of call was Raiatea, another island in'the SocietyGroup, which was reached next morning. Here again passengers saw the Fall of the" Bastille celebrations, and the presence of many natives.from Bora Bora and outlying islands added-to the general gaiety. The main attraction arranged for the tourists was a "fish drive," a spectacular sight, rarely seen except by residents of these islands. Amidst great , acclamation from passengers and natives, taking part in the drive, Captain Morgan, of the Maunganui, who was taken to the" reef in a catamaran, speared the first fish. • So that the passengers might have an uninterrupted view of the drive, which took place just inside the coral reefs, the Cape Cod -schooner .Henrietta, which is on a world cruise, was chartered, and all the Maunganui's passengers were transferred to this interesting craft. . . " ' , ' After three days at sea; Apia, th# capital of Samoa, on the ■ island -of Upolu, was reached ■on the morning of July 20. It was voted by passengers as one of the most beautiful of I the islands yet visited. A large party I made a trip to Stevenson's tomb on Mount Vaea early on Thursday - morning. Among the native entertainments was one give^n. by the native nurses; and medical students of Apia Hospital* ,in the hospital grouonds, consisting o* native songs and dances and a demonstration of native arts and crafts? Visits" to'.^avauVahd Nukualofa in tonga followed and a-day .was-spent in each place. At Vayau passengers i were takenVby launches and-'.-.ship's boats to the Swallows^ Cave, .a. water I cave of great beauty, the mahy-hued walls of which suggested a scene from some spectacular pantomime. Nukualofa, the capital of Tonga, was the last port of call, but by no-means the least interesting. Visits were, made to the blow-holes, which - were throwing up jets of water 60 or .70 feet high, the grove of the flying foxes, and to the mysterious trilithon, a, huge monument like those at Stonehenge, whose origin is shrouded . in mystery.- " . - , ' : On board the Maunganui there "was never a dull moment Four fancy dress balls were held. The last^evening was spent in Whangaparoa, where the grand fancy dress dinner and ball took place. The saloon and" deck were beautifully decorated and the evening was a fitting culmination to a memor- ! able cruise. .

The Maunganui left Auckland at 10 o'clock last night for Wellington, and is due here tomorrow morning. *. ' She is bringing a number; of passengers who made the cruise^ from < Wellington and the district,-and also from the South Island. The Maunganui win leave Wellington again at 8 pjn. on Monday for a cruise jto Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji. ~ "l _<