AS OTHERS SEE US

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 3437, 2 April 1938, Page 5

AS OTHERS SEE US

N.Z. IN A NUTSHELL THROUGH A VISITOR'S EYES The following syncopated notes on New Zealand are taken from a British trade magazine, the Standard News, and contributed by a London telephone engineer who has been engaged for some months installing his firm's machines in the Dominion. He writes: "Four main cities —Auckland in the North, colonial; Wellington, 400 miles further south, cosmopolitan, centre of Government; Chris.tch.urch, a further 200 miles south, English; Dunedin, a further 200 miles south, Scottish. The climate anywhere is nothing to write odes about. Auckland being nearer the equator, enjoys the warmer climate. Weliing,ton suffers the most terrific, winds. The Government is democratic—the 40-hour week prevails everywhere—if you are not right on .time for meals in the hotels you're just unlucky. Butter, bread and tea or coffee are included in the price of a restaurant meal cream is not an extra. Domestic servants are as scarce as tablecloths in a canteen. Tobacco may not be purchased on Sundays. Smoking at places of entertainment is prohibited. The majority of the broadcasts are under Government control —programmes as good as the 8.8. C. The Dominion abounds with scenic wonders —the landscape is never monotonous. The strata is volcanic and earthquakes are. liable to occur at any time, practically anywhere—recently in the thermal region of Rotorua, where the surface is very much like a piecrust, a construction party on a new overhead route saw a 40-foot pole disappear into the bowels of the earth. New Zealand is a sportsman's paradise—trout and deer in abundance—but catches must not be sold. Good fruit is scarce—the best is exported—but is dearer here than in London shops. Travelling by train is certainly an experience—sleepers seem to be fitted with square wheels. The fertility of the land is amazing—gardening is a continual war against Nature (weeds). In spite of certain disabilities, it is a 'bonza' country to be in. The people here are delightfully casual in business, and hospitable to an alarming degree, and 'life is sweet, brother'."