ONE FINE DAY IN FOUR THIS EASTER

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28259, 23 April 1957, Page 17

ONE FINE DAY IN FOUR THIS EASTER

Deerstalkers and trampers Who p gjme out of the bush late yes- 1 terday after being soaked to the n fjrin for much of the week-end, t golfers who reached the nineteenth hole wet to the knees, ten- h nis players who had to wait three s for the courts to dry, and o thousands of campers, motorists, t week-end handymen, and garden- a ffs can blame the rain on an anticyclone. TJ A week ago it formed out in o the Tasman Sea off the coast of g Tasmania. As Easter approached it began to move slowly eastward r towards New Zealand, but each 1 day it edged further and further t south. t About last Thursday it settled f down for the week-end 1000 miles I gouth of Stewart Island. Then this same anti-cyclone e which could have brought fair I weather and clear skies to most of the South Island drove a series of rain-laden cold fronts across the Southern Alps and over the Canterbury Plains. The result was that yesterday —the only day there was not a depression-backed cold front available—was the only fine dav of the Easter holiday. Over the whole week-end there was only 15 hours 30 minutes of aunshine, and 9 hours 42 minutes of that total was recorded yesterday. Christchurch had its heaviest rain on Thursday, but steady rain ! and frequent showers were reported from other districts. Less Road Traffic The weather reduced traffic on ’ the roads. Although the Transport Department’s chief traffic officer (Mr E Wilson) estimated that there were as many cars at the Canterbury Jockey Club’s meeting at Riccarton yesterday as there had ever been, the traffic generally was lighter than expected, he said. Fewer motorists went to the Grand Prix meeting at Cust, according to Mr Wilson, and the hold-ups at the northern approach to the Waimakariri river bridge were not as serious as in recent years. The Main North road traffic had to be held for short periods so that those coming down the Tram road could be cleared, he said, but the cars did not back up more than about 400 yards. There were two fatal accidents on Good Friday between the Waitaki river and Kaikoura. This, it has been suggested, was a salutary shock to motorists who read the reports on Saturday morning. Last year a pedestrian was killed when struck by a car, and a racing driver died of injuries suffered at Kaikoura. Only one or two of the many motor-cyclists who were in Christchurch during the week-end gave his officers any trouble, said the Christchurch City Council’s chief patrol officer (Mr J. Brown). Many Attend Sports Many persons who were not away from home earlier were out yesterday- Apart from those who went to Cust and Riccarton, hundreds went to the Sefton sports, gymkhanas at Chertsey and Hinds, and some as far as Kaikoura for the motor racing. Others crowded the cinemas and theatres. x Between L3O p.m. ,and 5 pjn. Cathedral square was thronged. Matinee audiences had no sooner poured out through the foyers than queues were forming for the 5 o’clock sessions. The crowds were out again between 7 p.m. and 8 pjn. as the evening sessions began. Rivers were high, and the fishing was bad. Trampers went on trips planned months ago but were disappointed by the weather. Rover scouts of the Hillary crew tramped in the Cass area, others from the Kotuku crew climbed near Arthur’s Pass. A

party from the Christchurch Tramping Club made the Har-mans-Whitehom-Browning Pass tri ?* frOl ?T e Beale y to Kokatahi. At Hilltop, rovers, youth hostel members, and trampers spent another week-end working on the hostel which is being built there. It is now totally enclosed and the flooring is down. Until late last night motorists were returning from many parts of the South Island. Most were glad to be home again. About the only persons who did not want to be in Christchurch ® ven i n s were 44 passengers on the Tasman Empire Airways flight to Sydney. A technical fault was found during a check while the DC-6 was at Hare wood airport. It was due to leave for Sydney at 2.30 a.m.—more than nine hours behind schedule.