FARMERS’ TOUR

Southland Times, Issue 20664, 20 April 1929, Page 8

FARMERS’ TOUR

NORTH ISLAND TRIP

NEW PROPOSAL UNDER CONSIDERATION

EXCURSION FROM SOUTHLAND ■ - ' ALONE

..The very large number of applications received in Southland from members of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union desirous of participating in the Railway Department’s special excursion... to the North Island in June next has made it impracticable for the excursion to proceed in its original form, and it has been practically decided to conduct a special excursion from Southland allowing the Otago and North Otago farmers to take advantage of the whole of the. accommodation available for the originally planned combined excursion. Applications in the northern provinces have been equally heavy, and as the excursion was limited it would be impossible to include all those who had expressed their desire to participate. . Mr C. E. Barnes, railway passenger agent for the South Island, who has been handling the arrangements, was in Invercargill about the middle of the week and he put forward a proposal for a second trip to a hastily convened meeting of a few members of the Southland executive of the Farmers’ Union that the provinces should be divided for two trips. Mr Barnes presented a new itinerary which the second excursion would follow, and stated that it could be decided within the provincial executives which excursions would best suit the provinces concerned. It is understood, however, that it is highly probable that the Southland excursionists will undertake the later trip. The matter will come up for consideration at the meeting of the Southland executive to-day) when Mr Barnes will attend to explain the proposal fully. The latest itinerary submitted is somewhat different, from the one previously approved in that the Taranaki and North Auckland visits have beep deleted and a visit of several days’ duration to Hawkes Bay and the East Coast substituted. The remainder of the tour will be as was provided before. One or two slight amendments include a visit to the Arapuni dam, which, in addition to being one of the greatest engineering works undertaken in the Dominion, has particular interest in view of the controversy that has raged concerning, its safety, and the return trip from the East Coast over the Rimutaka Range. As before, a daylight trip from Wellington up the Main Trunk railway to Auckland is provided for, and also the trip to Rotorua. The excursion would extend over 15 days.

Mr A. L. Adamson, secretary of the Southland executive of the Farmers’ Union, stated yesterday that 270 applications had been received from Southland members, their wives and families. The newly-pro-posed excursion would probably be limited to 300. The amended itinerary is as follows:

Friday, July s—lnvercargill5—Invercargill depart 7.0 a.m., travel to Lyttelton.

Saturday—Arrive Wellington. Breakfast. Wellington depart 8.10 a.m., Auckland arrive 11.0 p.m.

Sunday—At Auckland, free day. Monday. July B—At Auckland, "Winter Show and trips as arranged. Tuesday—Auckland depart 9.0 a.m.. Rotorua'arrive 5.0 p.m. Visit Arapuni dam en route.

Wednesday—At Rotorua; sight-seeing, trips, etc.

■ Thursday—Rotorua depart 10.30 a.m.; Hamilton arrive 1.30 p.m. Friday—Hamilton depart 8.0 a.m.; Palmerston 5.30 p.m., Napier arrive 9.30 p.m. Saturday—At Napier, trips, etc., as arranged. Sunday—At Napier, trips, etc., as arranged. Monday, July 15 —Napier depart 9.30 a.m,; Dannevirke arrive 12 noon, depart 3.0 p.m.; Masterton arrive 5.30 p.m. Tuesday—Masterton depart 2.0 p.m.; Wellington arrive 6.0 p.m. Wednesday—At Wellington. Thursday—At Wellington. Leave by ferry 7.45 p.m. Friday, July 19 —Leave Christchurch 8.50 a.m., arrive Invercargill 9.3 p.m. The railway fare from Invercargill is fixed at £6.11/2 and the total cost including rail, steamer and accommodation is estimated to be approximately £l7 16/2.