VISITING MOTORISTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20979, 16 September 1931, Page 12

VISITING MOTORISTS.

Sir.—Newspapers throughout the Empire have given Matthews' and my trip around the world in a small car some a Mention. Our dramatic beginning in tlie Tahiti probably inspired this interest. It has occurred to inc That readers of the Herald might- be interested to hear of our journey's end, of the last mile we had to travel to complete our journey around the, world —from the s.s. Mnunganui to an Auckland garage in Symonds Street. This minute section of the world offered us pathos, drama, comedy and sheer farce. A friend had brought us petiol, the customs officials were, as I have always found them in Auckland, helpful anl pleasant, allowing us to take the. car without the formalities which they knew we would be happy to attend to ! when once that last mile had been run. j People on the wharf were interested in ! our number plates. We felt proud to : carry into New Zealand a number given ns in the heart of the Empire. "That," we said, "will have to be taken off when we get to the garage." Slowly we threaded our way up the wharf; wo reached the dock gates, the gateway of our home town; we paused for a signal from the busy traffic officer; he. gave it and wo were off —the last mile of the long journey would lie covered in a few j minutes. But no! For while nearly ! four thousand miles of cruel desert could 1 not deter us, although foul roads in ; dangerous countries had not held us | up, and although we luijj escaped ! the bullets of Bedouins and frontier j tribesmen in Asia —always going fori ward to that last mile in Auckland—tho traffic policeman standing within a few yards of Now Zealand's shore ordered us to stop and said, "You can't go any further with those number plates." And it was useless to argue, useless to explain that we would immediately register the car. "Kmily II.," known now throughout the world, had to bo diMwn pathetically to the side of the road, where she waited until temporary numbers could bo brought to her. It. was suggested, even, that she should be lowed to the garage. But imagine that! Think of our little car reaching her journey's end at the end of a ropo! Therefore, the last mile of our long journey was done in some bitterness of spirit. I merely tell you of this absurd little story because I know that the Auckland spirit is an hospitable, kindly spirit; and because none of us in Auckland can afford to look stupid. The wholo subject of visiting motorists should be looked into; they should be allowed a few hours' grace to get registered, and, as a matter of fact, given the rights of guests which they enjoy in every civilised country—a disc on their windscreens which permits them a suitable time to travel on their home registration. In conclusion, I want to say that the "cop" who alone in the world enjoyed the supremo honour of stopping our fine British cfir, was invariably courteous, a decent fellow, I thought, who was simply doing his duty and who was" not less attractive when at the end of my tirade of fury he said, looking down at me with a kindly smile, "Okay." Hector, Macquahiue.