TOURIST LINERS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21961, 19 November 1934, Page 10

TOURIST LINERS

VISITS TO AUCKLAND FOUR FROM AUSTRALIA FIRST DUE ON FRIDAY VESSEL FROM AMERICA The first of four largo overseas liners which will come to New Zealand from Australia on tourist cruises within the next throe months is the P. and 0. steamer Strathaird, which will leave Brisbane to-morrow and arrive at Auckland on Friday evening. There aro about 850 excursionists on board. The vessel is on a 31 days' cruise, which commenced at Fremantle on November 6 and will ho completed when she returns to Fremantle on December 10. From Fremantle she proceeded to Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydnoy and Brisbane, and her next ports of call are Auckland, Wellington, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle. The Strathaird will leave Auckland on Saturday evening and will arrive at and leave Wellington on Monday. A large number of the tourists will travel from Auckland to Wellington overland and will visit Rotorua, Taupo, National Park and other sight-seeing places en route. They will leave Auckland by train at 8.30 a.m. on Saturday and will reach Wellington at 4.40 p.m. .on Monday, the vessel sailing after they embark. Those who do not make the overland journey will visit places of local interest while the vessel is at Auckland and Wellington. Two Orient Line Vessels Tho Strathaird will bo followed by the company's liner Strathnaver, which will also make a 34 days' cruise to tho same ports. She will leave Fremantle on December 4 and will return to that port on January 7. Tho liner will arrive at Auckland on the evening of December 22 and will sail tho following evening for Wellington, where she will arrive and leave on December 24. There will be local and overlaud trips for the Strathnaver's passengers," the itineraries being similar to those provided fcr the Strathaird's visit.

Two Orient Line steamers,*tho Oronsay and the Otranto, will also visit New Zealand with a large number of tourists from Australia, the Oronsay in December and the Otranto in February. Tho cruise of b'oth vessels will commence at Melbourne and after visiting Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland and Wellington, they will return to Melbourne via Sydney. The Oronsay will leave Melbourne on December 17 and she will return to that port on January 7. She is scheduled to arrive at Auckland at 6 a.m. on December 27 and to sail at midnight for Wellington, where she will arrive at 9 a.m. on December 29, sailing for Sydney at midnight. Franconia From America The Otranto will leave Melbourne on January 28 and she is scheduled to be at Auckland from 6 a.m. on February 7 until midnight, when she will depart for Wellington. She will arrive at Wellington at 9 a.m. on February 9 and leave the same night for Sydney. The Gunard liner Franconia, which was at Auckland early this year, is to make another world cruise from New York and the itinerary will again include Auckland. She is scheduled to reach Auckland on February 23 and to sail on February 25 for Wellingtoji, Australia and the Far East. The total tonnage of the five liners is 104,775 gross, according to Lloyds. The Strathaird is 22,284 tons; Strathnaver, 22,283 tons; Oronsay, 20,001 tons; Otranto, 20,032 tons; Franconia, 20,175 tons. The Strathaird and Strathnaver will be the first P. and 0. liners to visit Auckland since before the war and they will be the largest merchant steamers to enter tho port. ' It was intended that the large Matson Line steamer Malolo should make another extended cruise in the Pacfiic and she was to have reached Auckland in February. However, owing to the increased passenger traffic between tho Hawaiian Islands and California the cruise had to be cancelled.