Hints for the New Zealander Going Home.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19268, 3 January 1931, Page 17 (Supplement)

Hints for the New Zealander Going Home.

How to Travel When the Purse is Light.

(Written for the “Star" by

VAGABOND).

JN A FEW MONTHS the Canterbury people fortunate enough to have the time and the money (in spite of the price of wool) will be packing their trunks and going “ Home,” with an extended tour on the Continent to follow, tn the Old Country they are rather amused that New- Zealanders born and bred should refer to England as “Home,” and to tell the truth they rather like it. They are wonderfully kind to New Zealanders. During many jaunts, whenever the people 1 met in the Old Country knew I was from New Zealand, the name always acted as an

“open sesame.” We are nearer the Homeland in sentiment than some of the other colonies, but it was mainly the wonderful impression left by our soldiers that made the name so popular. It is to be hoped all New Zealanders going Home will see that the English people have no reason to change their opinion of us; it would only require a few rotters to take advantage of the English good nature, and our name would become as disliked as it is now popular. The knowledge that the English people are quite prepared to take u» merely because we are New Zealanders should make us very jealous of the name.

People who can afford to step into the tourist office, order a personally conducted tour as they would a dinner from the menu, or people who can travel regardless of expense will not require any hints. The person who has to scheme and contrive to make his trip fit his none-too-well-filled purse, probably gets more fun out of travelling than the rich, and it is surprising what a very good time one can have, even though one has to seek the less expensive berths, and stay at hotels not marked with stars in Baedeker’s admirable guide books. All travelling-is still fairly dear, and one has to buy his experience, but a person of common sense and simple tastes can see quite a lot of the world for a moderate sum. I know of a man travelling “en garcon” who spent nine months abroad, and did the w’hole trip for just under £350, New Zealand back to New Zealand. It costs more if there are women in the party, but two or three girls travelling in company can do it quite cheaply, staying at Y.W.C.A. hostels, or using the facilities offered by such organisations as the Victoria League. Go As You Please Tour. If you travel through a tourist agency, with a courier to meet you at every station, take you to your hotel, show you the sights, and see you off again, you are saved a lot of trouble, but working to a time-table like that would simply ruin the tour for the real EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEI

out-and-out traveller who prefers to find his own way about, stay where he likes and as long as he likes, and make up his plans as he goes. On one occasion I left New Zealand without asingle preconceived idea, and spent the jolliest trip I have ever had. I went home via Suez, called at all the Australian ports, including Hobart, saw Colombo, Bombay, Aden, dropped off at Suez, went overland by car to Cairo, stayed over and caught the next boat at Port Said, went on to Marseilles and Algiers, leaving the boat at the last mentioned, and then returned to Marseilles by a French steamer; wandered about France for some time, went on to Belgium and Holland, then to Switzerland, and then over to England, and returned by the Panama Canal. The whole steamer fare, secondclass, was only £l5O, and one can do it even cheaper than that. Suez for Preference. Of all the routes homeward I prefer Suez as there is so much to see, and Colombo itself is worth the money. Second class P. and O. is good enough for Royalty, and the return fare is only about £l5O. The “one-class boats,” such as the P. and O. Branch line, or the

Aberdeen and Commonwealth line (formerly the “Bay” boats owned by the Commonwealth Government) are even cheaper still—about £72 return. The accommodation on these one-class vessels is quite good, and the stamp of travellers very different from the usual steerage passenger. Both the P. and O. Branch line and the A. and C. line go by the Suez route. The P. and O. also have boats going via the Cape of Good Hope, and by the same route there are the boats of the White Star, superior second class, at* second class rates. The Cape route is not so interesting as the Suez. Second class through the Panama Canal or by what are called the “intermediate” boats costs about £122 return, and the Panama Canal is well worth seeing, though the long run of three weeks from New Zealand to Panama, and the long run across the Atlantic is apt to be dreary unless one is very fond of the sea. The routes via America and Canada are interesting, but expensive. To enjoy the train journey from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic thoroughly requires three weeks, and the travelling costs about £2 a day over and above the fare, which in itself is pretty stiff. London As Headquarters. When travelling via Suez it is a question whether one should get off at Marseilles or go round to Plymouth. For anyone going Home the first time at all doubtful about his ability to E ® E ® E HI I*l HI HI HI Eg m HI HI E E E S IS Mi

fight his way about, I should strongly advise going straight to England, making ones headquarters in London, and it is always better for the novice traveller to become acclimatised to travelling by getting his first experience amofig his fellow British—he will then have more confidence when he finds himseh a stranger in a strange land. Travelling is really hard work, until one gets the knack of it, and New Zealanders are so poorly equipped with languages that travel on the Continent is apt to bother them at first, they either get discouraged or fall back on the tourist tours, and possibly finish up by “ char-a-bancing ” —which to a real traveller would be purgatory. Choosing a Hotel. One of the hardest tilings in a foreign country is to know where to stay without being miserable and at the same time without making too heavy an inroad on one’s slender purse. A man can generally trust the taxi-driver to recommend some suitable place—they are wonderfully shrewd in summing up the traveller, for they spend their lives at it. For women the process is not so easy; but I know a young

woman who gets advice from some of the many women’s organisations, or takes her cue from the hotel lists in Baedeker. German and all as it is, Baedeker is about the best guide still, and the hotel and boarding-house lists arranged according to their standard and rates, are most helpful to the stranger. When the worst comes to the worst one can always join a personallyconducted party run by any of the numerous such as Cooks, Lunns, the Polytechnic, Pickford’s, Dawson’s—their name is legion. Sometimes for a not too confident traveller this is the best way out of the difficulty. The Money Problem. English will take one anywhere, except right off the beaten track. A smattering of French helps one tremendously, however, and some of my hap- 'est memories are of jaunts in outAji-the-way places in France where I had to struggle along with such French as I possess. Money matters are always a bother to some travellers. The man who carries his money in a body belt always amuses me; I am sure I should leave it in the bathroom. With a circular letter of credit from a bank one can travel all over the world with ease. There is a certain amount of worry looking after the letter and the accompanying book with the identification signature, but travellers must be prepared to put up with some inconvenience. The list of agents where one can cash one of these letters IllSlSSililSlllllligllliiJllli

of credit—or even traveller’s cheques, issued by some bank and tourist agents —is really remarkable, and what is equally remarkable they do not charge you when 3*ou make a draw—the fee 3'ou paid the issuing bank covers everything. Rush Trip to Cairo. To sum up, I should strongly advise the Suez route for at least one half of the voyage round the world. As the stay at Colombo is often absurdly short, owing to the fact that the mail steamers are more concerned about getting the mails through than about the desire of the vo>-ager to see everything, I would advise a stay r -over for a fortnight, if time and funds permit, for the trip to Candy, high up in the interior of sunny Ceylon, is well worth it. Ceylon is one’s first contact with the Eqst, and I should never dream of going Home any other way. Nowadays Cook’s have motor-cars waiting at Suez, and those who have, say, £7 to spare, and don’t mind a whirlwind trip, should certainly make the excursion to Cairo. The car journey over the desert—the old Overland Mail route, of the pre-Suez Canal days —is very fascinating. The ninety odd

kilometres takes about three hours. Then one has lunch at the famous Shepheard’s. The “terrace” that has figured in so many stories is still a fascinating lounge, overlooking the street full of Egyptian life. Then they rush you out to the Pyramids, return to Cairo, “ do ” the bazaars, take 3 r ou up to the Citadel with the famous mosque of Mohamet Ali, and by special train rush you up to Port Said, where your steamer obligingly waits an hour or so for you. People easliy tired should stick to the steamer and the 100-mile passage of the Canal, which takes about eighteen hours, has fascinations of its own. Of course, the sane thing to do is to stay off a fortnight and see Cairo and Alexandria properly —possibly even a dash up to Luxor and Assouan, but that means money. I have an old bill of Shepheard’s Hotel, which always cheers me when I get hard up—the cost of life at that cosmopolitan caravanserai works out between £2 and £3 a day, but it is worth it. But no matter i:~» w much or how little you spend on your “ trip Home ” you only bring back what you took awa 3 r . as a wise man once said. Travel does not work any transformation in the traveller, but, provided you have health, enough money to supply* simple wants and the indefinable wanderlust, I know of no pleasanter thing in life than going a journey—and planning a journey.