HOLIDAY ISLAND.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 30 September 1918, Page 3

HOLIDAY ISLAND.

THE PLAYGROUND FOR THE GRAND FLEET.

There is an island —somewhere. Its name and its position I am not at liberty to disclose, says a Daily MaiT correspondent, but it is well known to all in the Grand Fleet. It is quite small, beiing about five miles in length, while its brfeadth varies from two miles to half a mile. This little island constitutes the Grand Fleet playground.. Before the war it was a barren, wind-swept wilderness, inhabited by a mere handlful of peasants, whose quaint, squat cottages are dotted here and there over the hillside.

It is much the same now. The additions are small. They consist ol a large V.M.C.A. hut for the men, and a golf club house for the officer®. That is all you notice at first when you are a short distance away. When you get nearer you see spread over the near end of the island the goal posfe of Rugby, Soccer, and hookey fields, while here and there flutter the red flags of th% go__ 'greens. Steamboats run alongside a wellbuilt stone pier, also new. Before the war landing was difficult in anything but calm weather, and in this part of the world it is often very far from calm.

Once on the island you can realise what has been done. A full edghteenhole golf course has been made, each hole having been built by a different ship—putting green' levelled, tee erected, and a, system of draining established).

Rugby, Soccer a_.d hockey fields have also been made, each ship again being responsible for her own ground®. Finally, near the Y.MiC.A. hut ther e is a large boxing istation, capable of Beating more than 10,000 spectators. * * * *.*.

_ The little island, so desolate in' peace time, ha© now become the best-known and most popular place for miles around. Every afternoon, duriiw** both, ■ummeor and winter, officers ana men land from ships in the _i__rbor, some to ¥lay games, othersi to go for walks. o walk aright through the island fakee about four hours, but the chief attraction of a walk is the tda which one gete at any of the little cottages or farms. Home-made seonee, oatcakes, bread and butter, andi egg» axe the fare.

Tea is al&o served-at th© V.M.C.A. liiit for men, and at the golf cltib house for officers. Thi® latter is the meeting place fo. officers of all ships and squadrons, and it is not at all uncommon for one of them to enter and suddenly find himself confronted by an old friend whom he last saw on some distant foreign station. In the ev-ening the picket boats leaye their ©hip© for the island, where they plick up the "beach party" and carry them back to their steel homes. Both officers and men return on board feeling fitter and fresher than ever after their afternoon's recreation.