IN STRANGE LANDS

Hokitika Guardian, 12 September 1932, Page 8

IN STRANGE LANDS

NEW ZEALAND GIRL’S FtIGHT

FROM ENGLAND TO AFRICA

‘ LONDON,, August 3T. Shine of the fascinating .sights 'she saw on the pleasure flight from England to'Kenya in October, last are dee* cribed interestingly '.by Mias a New Zealand girl, who \yas trained at the Maisterton Aerodrome, in a letter toi relatives in the Waifarapa, 4 Miss Barton, who had been given a Giypsy Moth of her own, became tired of flying round English aerodromes, and decide r to, investigate . “the , shyline where tbe strange roads go down.’ r She found a willing passenger, ar surveyor by profession, who;, proved a considerable 'help in locating aero-’ dromes and new land. --C,

Fare welled oy a large number , offriends, Miss Barton flew from Heston toi Cologne the first day. Here, she was, held up for three days because the Germans demanded her certificate of airworthiness. Her next stop, was Nurenburg, a fascinating medieval place with alluring fairy-tale houses and an 'old castle perched on a rise overlooking the town. , NIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS. The next day the party left Nuremberg and! flew down the Danube and lunched at Vienna. In the evening they dined in Budapest, arriving there just as it was getting dark. Budapest was most attractive. ~ j,./

Belgrade they found rather dull and set tiff for Sofia, 200 miles distant, posing their .way, . tli.ey landed, at duck, in a valley 1000 among the mountains. Peasants came buzzing up like flies. By the time,fresh petrol supplies had been brought , up,.-, 'it was too late to go on, and .it was decided to spetid the night jn the plane. Two, civilian, guards kept watch over the machine. It was,a : lovely moonlight night, but there was a bitterly cold wind blowing bff, ; - t.ht>: snow covered mountains. . At sunrise the party made preparations to fly pff, but were kept hanging .about with all the good . weather going , waiting for pome official ty arrive; flam Heaven to give! per--. mission to continue the journey. Eventually they gotaway at. 10,30 aim., landing at Sofia half-an-hour b« < : ; fore heavy rain set in. , . ■ j.

PIIEOIOUS AND LOVELY JEWELS .’\&ext .day .they, reached. opls, Some of. the! country betwepn;: ■ the frontier’ rpd Andris nople, was very beautiful. On the Saturday they visited ,St' Sofia, a hugp mosque with the third .largest unsupported dome,, in . the. world. Its enormous floor was covered. with small squares, ‘.of prayer rugs qn which tlie Turks kneel facing Mecca when praying. : .. ■ . Tim Palace was a wonderful sight. In the treasury .which is insured for £200,000,000, was; to be seen the Jar-, gest emerald,,,in the world. It just looked like a great green bead, as it woe uncut and had a string suspended through it. .'-I--. - , Mis» Barton also saw a Persian throne studded .with pearls,, jubies, and emeralds worth seven millions, .and another one of beaten gold also studded with ‘masses of emeralds, There were some marvellous prayer nigs, embroidered all . over with , jewelled handles, and inlaid with jade, ivory, and tortoiseshell. The market . they found a most amazing place. Here, in four square miles of undei'grouna «hops packed together and lit by electricity, almost anything in the world could be bought. . ,

TOMBS OF THE DEAD

Flying oh, the adventurers had a meet marvellous view of the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn, and the Sea oi Mdmora. It was fearfully cold oil the journey from Constantinople to Eskirhikr, a Turkish military aerodrome in Asia Minor. Snow was on the mountains, and the wind was bitter. Mis. 1 Eiarton feared she would, die of frostbite. '!• ■.

Passing over desert of moat wonderful colours and villages dotted with strange domed! roofs, the.. party felt at Aleppo that, they were truly in the East. Damascus, reckoned to be the oldest. city.' in the,, wprld .tpflay, was oary, fascinating, and amazingly olean. From, the air the view of it was charming—a huge oasis of olive groves and orchards with great mountains in ifche w,eat and desert stretching away in the east. . ■ labile Mips Barton saw the I Great Pyramids inside of which ,®he j had to stcop while walking, along low tunnels and a slippery ledge. It all ,s r kwn4. rather terrifying, as one felt completely shut away in this tomb of ( the dead, from sun, air, and all living things. . , From Cairo they flew to Luxor and saw its .temple with its lovely- pillars of papyrus • < carved capitals. Passingover the Valley of the Kings they sa w the entrances to the tombs. . Equally fascinating was the rest of ,tl>3 country, visited, on the way ~to I«rajmhr, their deMinatjon, and the obi jective' of their thrilling and interesting trip. ; A