WORLD TOURISTS SPEND WEEK-END AT WHAKATANE

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 47, 5 October 1949, Page 5

WORLD TOURISTS SPEND WEEK-END AT WHAKATANE

What must certainly he the most palatial home on wheels in New Zealand, the motor caravan, of Mr Leslie T. Hunt, of Ormond, Melbourne, arrived at Whakatane during the weekend on a short visit. Now in .the course of a world tour, Mr Hunt is accompanied by his wife and ten-year-old daughter, Marion.

While at Whakatane Mr Hunt stayed at Ohope, which he described just before he left on Monday afternoon as the finest beach he had yet visited in New Zealand. His daughter and Mrs Hunt surprised many of the local citizens of the beach by spending most of their time in the water. “We thinK you nave a grand climate,” t Mrs Hunt told the Beacon. “It was lovely swimming at Ohope but I am sure many of the people We saw shivering on the beach must have thought we were just a couple more potty Australians.”

Modern Home The home of Mr Hunt and his family is a luxurious motor caracan, which was made in Australia to his own design for a cost of £3,500. Built on a Bedford bus chassis it is 22 feet long, eight feet wide and six feet two inches high. It weighs four tons 16cwt. No expense was spared in making the interior comfortable, while the many lab-our-saving devices make it a verit-

able self-contained modern home on wheels.

Under the floor level two 33-gal-lon tanks are installed, one for water, and the other for petrol, which gives a range of 350 miles. Above the water tank is a mirrored steel sink and draining board, and to the left an electric pump which supplies hot water. Most of the cooking is done by pressure cooker over a primus stove, but a modern kerosene stove is used for baking and the cooking of roast dinners. Zinc-lined cupboards are numerous, and everything has its own particular place. Special stands for cups and glasses are provided, while between each piece of crockery rubber mats are placed to prevent breakages. The dinette is a bright and cheery apartment, the table, made of laminex, is collapsible to form the centre portion of the double bed at night, the squabs and cushions being designed to form the mattress. The conversion of bedroom to dinette takes about 2 minutes. A collapsible canvas bath is carried under the rear seat of the dinette, and a modern toilet is also provided. The safety door is in the rear wall.

Electric Generator Electric power for a handsome 7valve wireless set, an electric clock, eight interior lights, seven ventilators and fans, is provided by a generator recessed in the outside wall. Reading lamps are over the beds. All windows are equipped with mosquito nettin Sy and two fire extinguishers are carried.

To ship the caravan from Melbourne to Auckland cost £9B while the shipping cost from Wellington to Picton return was £ll4.

During the tour of New Zealand the Hunts so far covered all the South Island as far down as Stew-< art Island and most of the North Island. From Whakatane the caravan heads for Auckland by way of Tauranga. The party will travel north to Spirits’ Bay and return to Auckland in December. They hope to be back in Melbourne by the beginning of next year. After a short stay in their home land Mr Hunt intends to travel overland to Perth where they will sail for Durban to start a tour of South Africa.

“How long will that take”? Mr Hunt was asked.

“I don’t .know,” he replied. “Possibly five years. It does not really, matter, we are in no hurry.” Like To Travel Mr Hunt has made a success of a business in Melbourne and is able to travel the world in this leisurely manner. He and his family like the life. “As long as we have our health we will travel,” Mrs Hunt said. When they finish their world tour they intend to settle in some country that they have enioved visiting most. “I have a suspicion that it will be New Zealand,” Hunt said. “The people have h o marvellously kind to us and w~ made many friends. Y O,1 ~ is unbeatable and I dr~" be long before ”