INTERESTING CAREER

Southland Times, Issue 22214, 5 January 1934, Page 2

INTERESTING CAREER

RETIRED NAVAL MAN PRAISE FOR NEW ZEALAND. A career that has contained more interest and incident than falls to the lot of the average man is that of Captain J. F. Vibart, C.8.E., R.1.M., who is at present visiting Dunedin with Mrs Vibart in the course of a tour which has already taken him across the globe (says the Otago Daily Times). For the past four and a half years, since Captain Vibart retired from the Royal Indian Marine, he and Mrs Vibart have already travelled extensively. First visiting Morocco and Spain, they later spent some time in Eastern and Central Europe, and afterwards visited the West Indies and Canada, whence they arrived in New Zealand last October.

“I am really renewing old acquaintanceship with New Zealand,” Captain Vibart told a Daily Times reporter, “since I was here in 1901 at the time of the visit of the present King and Queen, who were then the Duke and Duchess of York.” Captain Vibart was among those selected from the Royal Indian Marine and 53 Indian regiments, in addition to a large number of English regiments to attend the celebrations in connection with the establishment of the Commonwealth of Australia. After visiting various Australian States the troops accompanied the Duke and Duchess of York to New Zealand, landing in Auckland and coming as far south as Christchurch.

After spending some time in a training ship Captain Vibart first went to sea in 1893, when he joined the sailing ship Hesperus, which was engaged in the wool-carrying trade between Australia and Home ports. At the beginning of the wool season, he recalled, there was always a considerable number of sailing ships at Port Melbourne, and while they were in port each year a regatta was held, one of the events being a rowing race for sailing ships’ crews. As many as 18 ships were represented in this race, which was held over a course of four and a-half miles in the open sea of Hobson’s Bay, and on the last occasion when Captain Vibart was among the competitors he stroked the crew of the Hesperus, which won the race and the silver cup that accompanied it. That, he thinks, was the last time the race was held.

In 1839 Captain Vibart relinquished his connection with the Hesperus to join the Royal Indian Marine, a service almost as old as the British Navy itself, and while his ship was in the Suez canal en route to Bombay news was received of the outbreak of the Boer War. Within a month of landing in India he was engaged in the operations in South Africa, but his stay there was also destined to be short, for he was soon sent to China, where the Boxer rising was at its height. From the China Station he was recalled and appointed to a ship to take part in the celebrations in Australia. During his long period of service with the Royal Indian Marine Captain Vibart was stationed in various parts of India, on the Rangoon station, and with the East Indian Squadron, and he retains many interesting memories of his associations, in the realm of sport and in other ways, with notable persons in the East. Since coming to New Zealand Captain Vibart has spent most of his time in the North Island, where he has done a good deal of fishing in addition to sight-seeing. “I have been to practically every other country in the world that boasts tourist attractions,” he said when speaking of the beauty of the New Zealand scenery, “but never have I seen anything to compare with the glow-worm cave at Waitomo.” He added that he was impressed with the hospitality of the people of this country, and could not praise it too highly. Captain Vibart also expressed admiration of the food served in New Zealand hotels, describing it as wonderful for the price charged, and he mentioned specially the excellence of the local honey. “It is certainly our intention to return to the Dominion if possible,” he concluded.

At the end of his stay in Dunedin Captain Vibart intends to do some fishing in Southland, after which he will probably visit Queenstown and Mount Cook before leaving for Australia a month or two hence. From Australia he will go to South Africa, where he will spend some time before returning to England.