DOMINION’S ATTRACTIONS

Taranaki Daily News, 22 September 1931, Page 4

DOMINION’S ATTRACTIONS

COMPARISON WITH JAPAN. VISITOR HIGHLY IMPRESSED. In the course of an extended tour, which has already taken more than nine months and has carried Mr. Kenneth C. Keymer, of London, upwards of 37,000 miles, he is visiting Auckland at present. ' ‘ Mr. Keymer represents London firms of merchants, shippers and advertising experts. A. similar tour was made 40 years ago by his father, Sir Daniel T. Keymer, who visited this country in 1890. - “Two countries have stood out in my mind for their attractions from 'a tourist point of view,” said Mr. .Keymer. “They are .New Zealand and Japan. Lying as they do at similar latitudes on opposite sides of the equator, they present comfortable climates, which are refreshing after the heat of’ the tropics, and their size. enables them to be enjoyed without the long, overland journeys necessary to cover so many other lands. They have many points of similarity to me. “Both countries demonstrate their volcanic origin in no indecisive manner, and their earthquake regions are examples of their peoples’ pluck in forgetting the forces of nature. Tokio was shaken and burnt flat in 1923, but now it is a large city of fine buildings and rivals the capitals of other lands. Napier will, I know, soon show its old prosperity, and in. the Rotorua district people live happily on the edge' of a decidedly bad-tempered piece of .the’ earth’s crust. “Japan is well servjjd' by good roads and road-cars, and the service cars of New Zealand have appealed to me, too, by their organisation and the aid they give to the traveller.

“An Englishman in these islands finds himself truly at home, surrounded by people whose loyalty to the Old Country has remained unchanged from the day those pioneers of finest stock set out to build their fortunes on the far side of the globe. Great Britain and New Zealand are the furthest flung parts of Empire, but the strength of their ties is no myth.”