TOUR BY FARMERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 894, 11 February 1930, Page 8

TOUR BY FARMERS

TRIP TO STEWART ISLAND it is hoped that a big contingent of North Island farmers will visit the South island next May. Arrangements are in hand by the Railway Department, which is organising the tour, and it sufficient numbers are offering, the special train carrying the farmers will leave Auckland for Wellington oil May 13. Last year the Railway Department, with special excursions, brought 1,000 South Island farmers to the North, and this year’s .excursion to the South will be a reciprocal visit. It is proposed that the farmers spend a day in Wellington visiting places of interest, including the Petone Workshops. At Christchurch a call w-ili be made at the Agricultural College at Lincoln. It is proposed to do most of the sightseeing in the far south, and the present itinerary includes a trip across Stewart Island and another to Queenstown and the Southern Lakes.

The whole tour will, occupy 12 days. The Railway Department is also carrying out the organisation of the tour for the Empire Farmers, which has been planned by the executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union. This will be a most comprehensive one, including the whole of the Dominion. This year the special excursions organised by the Railway Department have been most popular. One, which is growing in favour each Sunday, is the trip on the Waikato River. Intending holidaymakers go by train to Mercer on Sunday morning, board a river-boat there, and travel 20 miles on the water to Camphelltown, returning to Mercer in time to catch the Hamilton-Auckland train in the evening. Last Sunday over 200 made the trip.