HOLIDAY & THE WEATHER

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 12023, 29 December 1924, Page 6

HOLIDAY & THE WEATHER

1 WELLINGTON FORTUNATE i IDEAL CONDITIONS IN’ CAPITAL : CITY. RAIN AND FLOODS ELSEWHERE. 1 Wellington appears to hare been a ; good deal more fortunate- than other ' centres in regard to the weather which 1 has been experienced over the holi--1 days. From other districts north of Wellington up to Auckland, rain has con- : siderably interfered with the holiday : programme in all directions, and in : some instances the downfall has been . so .heavy as to create floods. Welling- ' ton, therefore has much to be thank--5 ful for in that it has had many hours • of 'sunshine, and the local seaside re- ■ sorts have afforded a splendid time for * many thousands .of people. Owing to the Plunjiet Shield matches , being played in the South, there has been no first-class or senior 'cricket in Wellington during the Christmas holi- ’ days, although had the Basin not been ’ occupied on Boxing Day by the CSale- [ donian Society the Cricket Association- ’ would undoubtedly have adjourned the [ Town v. Country match for Christmas . and following dayß. The Plunket Shield \ match in Wellington begins on New Year’s Day. THE CENTRE TOURNAMENT. 1 . The rains during the night, not dur- : - ing the day, were the cause of the ’ postponement of the, Wellington Oen--3 Ire Bowling Tournament. The rain, r during the night prior to Boxing Day 1 made the greens too heavy- to play on- , without running the risk of doing c | them serious damage, and in view of - the near approach of the Dominion i tournament, net. risks were taken. Fur- . ther heavy rain on Friday night and , Saturday morning resulted in the Centre tournament again being postponed, yet Saturday was a beautiful sumi mer’s day, and the varions beaches at . iLyall Bay, Island Bay, Vnd across the .! harbour were thronged with people,' > i the kiddies having a delightful time. ) | If there is no heavy rain before this ; morning the tournament will be open- , !ed today at Wellington, Victoria, Ha- , I taitai, and Thorndon greens. There -' are some bowlers who hold the opinion i that in view of the Dominion tourna- , ment, which opens shortly, the Centre .[would have been wiser to have defi-' ‘ nitely abandoned the Centre competi‘jtion for this season. If there is any further delay it will be difficult to , [bring the event to a conclusion without , serious interference with the various { club and .pennant fixtures. „ AT THE'BAYS. At Eastbourne and in the city the ' various tennis competitions have been I going with full zest, and some exciting. and interesting games have been witi nessed. Further play will be proceed[.ed with during the week. >' 1 At Lyall Bay, the gala which opened ,'on Friday under the auspices of the. i Lyall Bay Surf. and Life-saving Club ' was continued on Saturday, tljie bay ; -being baihed in sunsbine all way. There: were amusements of all sorts, a glorious surf of which the multitude of ' bathers made the most, and a fair ' amount of fishing was indulged in. At night the parade was again illuminated, and dancing took . place, a spe- - rial band: being provided. Yesterday. Was again a day of sunshine, and. the- : beach presented an animated scene. , from morning until night, The Soot- ; tish Pipe Band played selections on the frpnt in the afternoon. ~. " ; • Seatoun,- Island Bay and‘other seatside resorts were all largely patronised,, and quije a number travelled by train 1 or motor down the Hutt Valley to j take part in one or other of the functions ' arranged there. MOTOR TRIPS. The local motor ’buses did good busi-' ness in the popular trip round the 'bays, Happy Valley, Brooklyn, and the' : city, ’ while owners of private cars did not want for passengers when taking a run into the country. The 6lip on the Hutt road will yet take some time to dispose of, but sufficient spoil was re-, ; moved uo make a clear run for the traffic. • Karori and Makara came into , favour in this and Ngahau- i ranga Gorge, Kaiwarra, and Johnson-, ville drew their share of admirers. 1 Both tram and ’bus conveyed large crowds to Titahi Bay, the popularity I of which as a holiday reßort has increased almost beyond bounds, and the , pending developments there will not. coino any too soon. Owing to its beau-* tiful curving : beach, magnificent bathing, splendid fishing, and the trip..to Mans Island in the distanoe,- Titahi, Bay promises to become one of the, most popular* resorts in the North island. , , j.,\ At all of these places the holiday business has been excellent, "for there has been little or no rain in, 4he daytime in Wellington, and the city,, seems to have been better favoured in. 'regard to holiday Weather than any other part of the Dominion. HEAVY RAIN_ELSEWHERE FLOODS AT ABHBURTON RIVER BREAKS BANKS: EXCITING RESCUES. WELLINGTON THE EXCEPTION. 'ln other parts of New Zealand any-' thing but • holiday , weather conditions i prevailed on Saturday, and north and j south of the capital heavy rain fell At Auckland the weather was reported as “fair,” thomgjh the courses and grounds had been well soaked by Friday's rain. Rain also fell late in the I afternoon. At Rotorua heavy rain fell, and the local tennis tournament was considerably delayed in consequence. At the Manawatu races the weather, was also unfavourable, and though, the the races were held the conditions were not propitious. In the Taranaki district the weather was so had that the races at New Plymouth had to be postponed until today, but in other areas, it is said, the weather was hot so unfavourable. In the South Island adverse weather conditions also prevailed. In Dunedin the rain fell heavily, and at Wingatui, on the Taiere plain, where - the races were held, a drizzling rain fell ah day, and interfered considerably with the success of the gathering. By far the most sensational experiences were those reported, from the Ashburton district. There 'very heavy rain fell for many hours, causing the river tp rise rapidly. It broke through the banks in many places flooding the low lying country beyond, and isolating many farms and camps. In. some instances campers had to be conveyed to higher ground in boats. In the case of a marooned familv. where a man. woman and children were in extreme danger, a Maori rescued them all, displaying the utmost hravery. Details will be found in another column. Under the oircumstanoes Wellington residents have much to be thankful for,

an*S once, again “that wretched Wellington weather, ‘ don’t you know,’-’ cpoAe out on topi . J fi OTHEI^PARTS PERSISTENT BAIN AT OAMARU. . , Ppr Press Association. - OAMARTJ, December 27. ftrsisteftfc.rain has fallen here since Eriday night>e.nd the Kakanui River, 1 in high -flood, overflowed the road at Maheno. rendering it impassable for motors. , i HEAVY LOSSES OF STOCK EXPERIENCES IN SOOTH CANTER'BTJRS. Per Press Association. TIM ARU, December 28. As a result of phenominally heavy rains in the back country, the South .Canterbury rivers are all in heavy flood. Much damage was done to roads, bridges and cereal crops. Heavy losses of stock were suffered by some | settlers living ,on the low country adjacent to rivers. Road traffio was seriously impeded-because of swollen rivers. , • ( SUNNY AT CHRISTCHURCH IMPROVED CONDITIONS. Per Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, December 28. Very heavy Tain fell during the night, but the. weather has now cleared and to-day is - sunny and warm —a great contrast - to' tho conditions of the last few days. AT DUNEDIN WEEK OF WET WEATHER. Per Presk Association. DUNEDIN, December 28. Owing to .heavy rain on Saturday, the finals in the Christmas bowling tournament were postponed. The at- ! tendance at the Wingatui races was affected. After showery weather practically all last week, with the exception of Wednesday, it is bright and fine today. 1 ~