ROBINSON CRUSOES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 187, 17 July 1940, Page 5

ROBINSON CRUSOES

'ROUGHING IT' ON WHALE ISLAND FISHING, EATING AND. SLEEPING "The war, the political situation, the wages tax and even the Daventry news had the goi-by kist week for a privileged few of Whakatane's citizens. Only a few miles away from the cares of the life we remaining had still to lead, this party, originally .comprising three, lazily fished for hapuka*, ate the hapuka and otherwise enjoyed themselves on Whale Island and the waters around. Fishing is a great pastime if one has the leisure and the willing exiles had a full week of that- They performed Well in the sport, too, hapuka weighing 62 pounds being no trouble at all to them and crayfish just tumbling into their open hands. They dined A\ v ell thereoff. One incident nearly upset the me ivy party. One member was stretched out oa his of straw, although not in the dead of night, and lazily reached up to pull down a coat hanging on the wall of the hut. Sometime previously a knife had been driven, lodged, or otherwise placed in the wall near the coat and it needed only the one tug to bring it down. The knife struck the recumbent member in the eye—but he was fortunate that the knife fell haft first. , All was well that ended well and the local lads, joined last Thursday by two more enthusiasts of th,e wide open spaces, looked particularly fit when they landed here on Sunday afternoon.' Unlike Robinson Crusoe they had not enjoyed the companionship a,nd ministrations of a Man Friday, but very much like Robinson Crusoe they all' had beautiful beards.