AMBITIOUS PLAN.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 192, 14 August 1931, Page 9

AMBITIOUS PLAN.

N.Z. Girl to Walk Length of Dominion. ADVERTISING LOCAL GOODS People walk for pleasure, health and companionship, but there is one girl in Christchurch who hopes to walk the length of New Zealand in the interests of local industries. Miss Esther James, an Auckland girl and formerly a mannequin, proposes to walk from Caps Maria Van Diemen to the Bluff to advertise New Zealand-made goods. She will wear entirely New Zealand-made clothing and live on New Zealandgrown foods. One Month’s Training. Miss James intends to train for one month in Auckland and to start her long walk in November, when the godwits arrive from Siberia. Mis.*; James has no intention of walking in breeches and boots, or in any other form of male attire, but intends to wear a wholly feminine New Zealand wool costume. Her shoes and stockings will also be New Zealand-made. Miss James, in an interview, estimated that she would need a new pair of shoes every 100 miles and new stockings every 50 miles. When asked how she would fare in the matter of finance, Miss James said: “ I’ve a lot of faith in human nature.” She intends to write to the mayors of towns en route and is relying on them to billet her. In sparsely populated districts she will trust to the good nature of farmers. Details of Trip. The whole journey, Miss James calculates, will take five months. Numerous people have walked from Auckland to Wellington, but she believes she is the first to attempt the longer distance. She hopes to average eight hours a day, and will carry a pedometer, and clock in at each town, where local authorities will check her mileage. Miss James will endeavour to create a record for the trip. She hopes to demonstrate the serviceable qualities of New Zealand goods. Miss James will lecture in all the principal centres. A prominent firm is making her a diary from New Zealand wood pulp in which she will record her impressions of her trip. Self-reliant. Miss James is a farmer's daughter, and comes of old pioneer stock. So far no one has given her any financial support, but she is self-reliant and has arranged all the details of the trip herself. Manufacturers, however, are keenly alive to the advertising possibilities of Miss James’s venture. One prominent breakfast food company has arranged for supplies of their product to be obtained in every town along the route. Miss James has also been asked to drink New Zealand wines and smoke New Zealand tobacco, but declined these offers. She is also negotiating with the Government Publicity Department to take a series of “ shots ” during visits to various New Zealand tourist resorts.