SUMMER CRUISES

Hokitika Guardian, 7 January 1933, Page 8

SUMMER CRUISES

HOLIDAYS'AT SEA

POPULARITY IN SYDNEY

SYDNEY, December • 20.

This Christmas has seen a development in catering' for tourists from wliioh there is not likely to be any turning back. The idea of spending the festive season at sea in a palatial liner s,coined to make an irrest.ble appeal to Sydney’s society folk, and vvlie.ii three shipping companies advertise;! .special summer cruises, these were tiupshod, and a,s a- matter of fact !ho accommodation was not equal to the demand.. When the great liner, the Strathaird, loft Sydney fr Norfolk Myml, it was not only crowded with pleasure seekers—and it has accommodat on for nearly 1500 souls—but it was seen off by multitudes who world liyve been on board if there liad been room. The same may be said of tlye, departure of the Oronsay for Noumea on the following., day. . An All;.ftr.al.ian coastal liner took a third party to the . Barrier Beef,. that great notpntinl sea-playground, which Aystra’pa is only beginning to discover. Gaiety has ruled on th© island cruises hidgi”g.by the wireless accounts of hive voyages ..that have reaclmcl the Sydney .Prees. The shipsused are of the luxuriquls type, and it is . clear tlmjt the passengers have made the most of. their chance to enjoy a holiday that is out of the ordinary. ! Sucli cruises as those which were undertaken this venr a,re common in European wntcv.l.s, and it is rather surprising that they have not been introduced in this •section of the world long ago. Por,h?m the shipping compa.nics feared that they would not receive support, but any doubts that might have existed on that score must have vaniidieel now. and similar cruises may be executed in . future summers.

A cruise of this nature to New Zealand would be ideal, and it is pot surprising, therefore, that the Huddart.Parker oompaov shouldha,ye arranged one in connection with .the first auu core's the Tasman of their fine new motor-ship Dye %ngaimßn. This vesd vri'i leaye Sydney’ for Wellington in a fortnight’s time, and as a special inducement to tourists it in announced that the,voyage will include a v.sit to Milford Sound. The modern liner travels at a fair speed, and the time taken fey the voyage between New Zealand and Australia has been reduced considerably under the spur of competition with the Malison 1 ne. This fact, together with the further development pf the- “cruise” idpa, sbpiilcl be of great benefit to the New ZeManci tourist trade. There are still thousands of Australians who have peyer been to New Zealand, but the advertising displays' arranged by the New Zealand office in Sydney «re so ritfcmct've, that with better travelling facilities the traffic across the Tasman is hound to grow. The greatest need, however, is a better political understanding—a more pronounced Empire ■spirit.