TRAVEL CLUB’S GROWTH

Southland Times, Issue 23991, 5 December 1939, Page 4

TRAVEL CLUB’S GROWTH

MEMBERSHIP MORE THAN 100 MRS R. N. TODD GIVES INTERESTING TALK The recently inaugurated Southland Travel Club can now claim more than 100 members, 72 of whom met in. H. and J. Smith’s tea-rooms yesterday to hear a travel talk by Mrs R. N. Todd. Mr A. W. Jones welcomed the visitors present, Mrs Staton (England), Mrs W. M. B. Veitch (Dunedin), Mrs J. Willett (Napier), Miss M. Archer (Christchurch), and Mrs Cruickshank (Auckland), and introduced Mrs Todd. Mrs Todd described the trip she recently made with 'Mr Todd. At the first port of call, Sydney, she was much impressed by the harbour, the bridge, the Blue Mountains, so appropriately named, and the outdoor life made possible by the very fine climate. At Colombo, Mrs Todd had her first glimpse of the East, where the long white robes of the natives, frequently bespattered with mud, appeared most unsuitable garb and where excellent tailors completed orders in a single day. The intense heat at Aden made it undesirable to remain ashore more than two hours, and the day’s journey through the canal was welcomed as being slightly cooler. Continuing the journey, Mrs Todd had a magnificent view of Mount Vesuvius in eruption, when the red molten lava writhed down the mountain side with. the. life -like movement of a snake. From Naples, the party made a moming visit to Pompeii and viewed the famous statuary uncovered by excavation, and now on view in the museum. Another band of passengers who ventured on to Vesuvius returned with shoes burned by the lava, while one became indisposed through inhaling poisonous vapour. Monte Carlo proved to be far removed from the glamorous town of one’s imagination, Mrs Todd said, and one casino visited was smoke-filled, with shabby plush upholstery, while the players faces betrayed fatigue and disillusionment.

FRENCH PERFUME FACTORY A sight-seeing trip to' a perfume factory in a French village was both refreshing and interesting. Lavender and other flowers were gathered in quantity and given the expert treatment necessary. A continuation of this drive afforded a visit to Nice, one of the most interesting of the French towns; the creations in a milliner’s window appeared more fantastic than practical. From the golden coast of France Mrs Todd saw, at some little distance, a chateau recently inhabited by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Driving through the vineyards of southern France, where grapes were twopence a pound, many peasants’ cottages were seen; in these cottages the family lived' upstairs, and the animals downstairs. This period of travelling coincided with the April crisis, and the exercising of the German Fleet off the French coast created a feeling of uneasiness among the tourists. Southampton was reached with a certain degree of relief, and London, long familiar by hearsay, seemed a home away from home to the New Zealanders.

During a motor-tour of the South of England, Mr and Mrs Todd passed through Cornwall, Land’s End, Penzance, the picture postcard village of St. Ives and the quaint village of Clovelly, where no rolling stock has yet traversed the steep cobbled street. DOWN THE THAMES The highlight of the trip, a threedays’ journey on the Thames to London, enabled many fine homes and gardens, so typical of England, to be seen to advantage. The Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, a week at the English Lakes, a tour of Scotland, the beauty of Princes street in Edinburgh, the finest street in Britain, an open air pageant of Scottish history by 500 players all created separate and lasting impressions. An excursion to Norway proved both timely and enjoyable, as war was declared three days after the return to England. The issue of gas masks, the rigidly enforced black-outs, the sight of 5000 balloons over London, some 23,000 feet high, all brought a sense of reality of war. Mr and Mrs Todd sailed from Tilbury, without convoy and again travelled via Suez on their homeward trip. Mr P. H. Nicholson, on behalf of the members, passed a vote of thanks to Mrs Todd.

Songs were sung by Mr F. Jones accompanied by Mrs Jones.