VISITOR’S PRAISE

Hokitika Guardian, 4 May 1931, Page 7

VISITOR’S PRAISE

DUTCH JOURNALIST’S IMPRESSIONS.

“New Zealand is a beautiful country from beginning to end and there is only one tiling wrong with it: it costs such a lot of money to get here.” This remark was made by Mr Theo. Steenkamp, a Dutch journalist, who has been spending a few days in Christchurch in the course of a motoring tour round the world.

Mr Steenkamp was enthusiastic about everything in New Zealand, and paid a glowing tribute to the warmheartedness of the people. Of Australia, however, lie was less enthusiastic. He said that lie did not care for the Australian people and the Customs officials had put him to such endless trouble over his car that lie was glad to get away from the country. He said he had to pay a deposit of £l9O before he could land his car in Sydney, and when lie was leaving he had fo wait two clays before he could get the money back and he was then paid by cheque. He had to pay a man £lO to assist him in getting the refund, and it cost him another £2O to change the cheque into New Zealand money.

TOURISTS WELL TREATED. “Sydney is a beautiful town and the harbour is magnificent,” he said. The trouble was that there were too many Government officials and many extremely foolish things were done. In New Zealand he had no trouble with the Government officials and everyone was most courteous and helpful to him. He had found a great difference between the wry tourists were treated in Australia and New Zealand, and lie regretted that this country was so far away from Europe and that it cost such a lot of money to come here.

Mr Steenkamp, who speaks seven languages, is writing a series of travel articles for “De Auto,” a Dutch motor, ing journal. On his present tour he motored in his light two-seater car from Brussels to Baluchistan, through the Dutch East Indies and then in Australia and New Zealand.

WHITE ELEPHANTS. / While motoring in Sumatra Mr Steenkamp was suclden.lv surrounded by about twenty white elephants. They came so close to the car that some of them actually touched it, but nc managed to scare them away by sounding the horn continuously. The elephants, he said, were as big as the Indian elephants and they gave him a very great scare. When he reached the next village he found that the radiator of the car had been broken hv the tusks of one of the animats.

Mr Steenkamp had liiaiiv other thriving experienced in his 14,000 miles of road travel since he left his native land. In Persia the car crashed over a high precipice and was badly damaged and a hand of robbers actually assisted him to get it out, He had narrow escapes from death six times during the tour, and though the body of thy ear was damaged on several occasions, the engine was still sound and he was able to get repairs carried out. The roads in Persia were simply atrocious, he said, and in some parts oi that country lie was able to travel at the rate of only two miles an hour. He carried with him sufficient food and water to last his servant and himself for fourteen days.

The roads in New Zealand, said Mr Steenkamp. were fairly good, hut he had seen better in Java. The concrete and bitumen highways were, of course, excellent to drive over, hut some of the ordinary macadam roads were not in the best of order. The worst roads he had encountered on his trip were in Persia and Turkey. “It is my first visit to Australia and New Zealand,” said Mr Steenkanip, “and I only wish more of unpeople could come here. The climate is wonderful and the people are so strong and healthy that it must he a very healthy place to live in.”