TOURISTS’ TRIALS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 246, 7 January 1928, Page 16

TOURISTS’ TRIALS

WOMEN TRAVELLERS To be a tourist seeing the world is very pleasant, remarks an exchange, but occasionally the rough side of things is uppermost, and travelling through new lands is apt to compare unfavourably with “home, sweet home.” The Misses Knowles, of Blackburn, England, who have been touring America, and more recently New Zealand, had a series of experiences which don’t generally befall travellers—at least not in rapid succession. Arriving in Wellington to catch the boat for Nelson, they found berths scarce, but managed to secure one on deck. Alas, the night was dark and stormy, and the ladies with difficulty had to make their way to a cabin. This, in turn, was flooded, and sea sickness also intervened. At Nelson, the visitors caught the service car for Reefton, en route to South Westland, but while going through the gorge, another car ran into it. This incident over, Reefton was reached in safety, and the ladies booked on the Reefton-Grey express, considering it a more sedate form of travel. So it proved—until the tunnel was passed, when two waggons left the rails, on a steep incline, and although the train pulled up in comparative safety, it was delayed for two hours. A passing motorist offered the weary passengers a lift to Greymouth, and they took it. To quote their own words, “If anyone wants more thrills than we had in 24 hours, well, all we can say is that they are really greedy.”