TOURIST'S PRAISE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22318, 16 January 1936, Page 13

TOURIST'S PRAISE

CATERING FOR VISITORS NEW ZEALAND CUSTOMS Comparisons between life in the United States and New Zealand, praise for the New Zealand Government Tourist Bureau, and general impressions of the Dominion and its scenic attractions, were contained in remarks made by Mr. G. G. Pedder, an American tourist, visiting Christchurch. He is making New Zealand the starting point for a tour of the world. "Tho Government Tourist Bureau gives service such as you would not get in the United States," said Mr Pedder. "They certainly provide sonio service there, but they do not call for you at the station and arrange where you are to stay. The accommodation here is very fine. The scenic attractions of tho country are wonderful, though there does nob seem to be so much life in the towns as in America. The cities look much older than they really are." . Tho people, he considered, were much more "sport-minded" than in America; everyone seemed to play some game, whereas Americans often forsook sport completely after they had finished their education. Mr. Pedder has kept a book in which he has made a note of all the humorous and unusual things ho has seen in New Zealand, one or two of which he read out. "1 cannot understand why you talk about a stone in measuring a man's weight," he said. "After all, you only have to figure it out in pounds afterwards. And we cannot get used to the idea of eating off the hack of the fork. In America we use tho fork turned the other way in the right hand."