GLOBE-TROTTING

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 253, 17 June 1932, Page 2

GLOBE-TROTTING

EXPERIEN CES OF INTERESTING ROUND-THE-W ORLD WALKER. COMPANION MAULED BY LION. Felix, the patron saint of trampers, has a big band of followers these days, and visits to llnvercargill of round-the-w orlcf walkers are not rare, says a Southem exchange. One of these wanderlust-smitten people, and a most interesting one, too, ^ arrived from Dunedin on a recent af- 1 ternoon and set off for Bluff the next morning. His name is James Edward Williams. He is a slimly-built keen- I •eyed Englishman, 38 years of _ age, and he has been on his present jaunt • four years already. Some years ago, ; he circled the glohe in ships, work- } ing his passage. He could not settle down after his trip, and started it all ' over again, walking this time. He has'a long "vtfay to go yet, andhe does not know what he will do when he finishes. In the meantime, he is not worrying, either. j Mr. Williams called at the News office on his arrival in Invercargill and told the reporters something about his trip. The original idea was to cycle round the world, and he and a friend had finalised their arrangements when the friend, perhaps alarmed by Mr. Williams tales of adventures in Central Africa, decided that home was the safest place after all. Mr. Williams therefore set out for Africa on his own. On his arrival there he was joined by another friend and the pair set out to "do" Africa. ; The second friend lasted longer than the first one, but his fate proved the wisdom of the other's judgment. He ■ was badly mauled by a lion, and while i recovering in hospital, experienced an j attack of blackwater fever and died. •; Then Mr. Williams decided to make , his trip a world tour, and returned to England to walk all round Great Britain. Having accomplished that, he ( came out to New Zealand. He spent i fifteen months in the North Island, but made a quick passage to Invercar- ! gill and now intends to go to Aus- | tralia from Bluff at the first oppor- ' tunity. His immediate destination is ' Fremantle, but what happens then ; will depend upon the shipping. Impressed by New Zealand. Mr. Williams thinks a lot of New ; Zealand, despite the fact that he ar- j rived in Napier on the morning of the i catastrophic earthquake. All his gear : was in the Masonic Hotel, and he lost ; the lot. However, he gathered to- j gether another kit and soon after- j wards lost it, too, leaving it too close to the fire with disastrous results. He had some trouble in getting across from Wellington to Lyttelton. He found that he conld not worlc a pas- ! sage, and he decided to travel as an uninvited guest. He slipped on board a ship, found a cosy noolc and left his bag there, going back ashore. When he returned to the ship there was a burly quartermaster to bar his way and he was informed that he couldn't go aboard, because the police were searching for a stowaway. They had found his luggage but could- j n't find the man. The disappointed traveller didn't give up hope, and tried again, this time being told by j a haughty gentleman with some gold j braid that his company was not wanted. So he had to stand on the wharf » and watch his luggage go south. Ultimately he got across to Lyttel- i ton, carrying with him not a very j glowing opinion of Wellington. He j thinks New Zealand is a great little j country and considers the finest scen- I ery he has yet seen to be on the Gis- j borne-Opotilci route. Mr. Williams carries a paclc varying ! from 351b to 401b, and generally covers about 30 miles a day. His log book is signed by the Mayors of all the towns he has visited, and contains also a certificate from the Auckland Amatsur Athletic Association, which started him off on his walk of New Zealand. His best lap in this country was between Auckland and Hamilton, walking the 81 J miles in 26 hours' walking "timo, which he claims is a record.