OUR ENTERPRISING KINSMEN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 30 May 1938, Page 8

OUR ENTERPRISING KINSMEN

LUXURY ON THE AWATEA I By Air Mail—From Our Own Correspondent] LONDON. sth May. The Southern Seas are not exactly where one looks for the latest examples of the shipbuilder’s art. But a London' voyageur writes enthusiastically from the Tasman Sea of the vessel he is on. The Tasman Sea is to Australians and New Zealanders much what our Channel is to us. only the Tasman Sea crossing is more like Southampton to Gibraltar than Dover to Calais. Allowing for this, the comparison is all in favour of our enterprising kinsmen down under. My friend’s boat, the Awatea. with its 14.000 tons, is the equivalent of many of the best liners we send to the Far East, and is of New Zealand ownership.. In luxury equipment it equals the Queen Mary, having its cinema, cabaret, gym, and men’s and women's clubrooms. There is hot and cold water in every cabin, air conditioning, and its decorative scheme would satisfy Lutyens. Its speed is 26 knots. All this on a passage which lasts less than three days. Even on the coastal routes one sees ships that arc beauties in design, and the last ’’•ord in equipment. Though the Australians hav" set to work shipbuilding for themselves, at the moment about 2,000 tons is their limit. The “big uns” come from British yards at home.