Rabaul, Far East And Bali On

New Cruise Plan

A cruise which offers something to those who like the exclusive in travel is being organised for late this year by the China Navigation Company with a vessel new to the South Pacific.

THE 12,500 tons Kuala Lumpur normally trades between Singa pore/Malaya and the Middle East ex cept for one period late in each year when she cruises between Western Australia and Japan.

This year cruising activities have been extended. The cruise will be 43 days Fremantle-back-to-Fremantle (or Sydney-back-to-Sydney); Mel bourne-back-to-Melbourne will be a day or so longer—and costs £lO more than the Fremantle

or Sydney fares in each category.

After leaving Australia calls are made at Rabaul, New Guinea, Manila, Hongkong

The

and Bali—then back round the Aus tralian coast, Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney.

The high point of the cruise is the six days in the duty-free port of Hongkong in mid-November, which will allow passengers to do their Christmas shopping as well as go sight-seeing.

A maximum 200 first class passen gers only are carried and all cabins and public rooms, with the exception of the gymnasium, are air-conditioned.

A large swimming pool on the lido deck and a modern dance band are included in the amenities for keeping passengers amused during the days and nights at sea. There is a hair dressing establishment and a Chinese laundry.

Kuala Lumpur is a British ship

registered in London and manned by British officers and Chinese crew.

Ratio of stewards and cooks to passengers works out at about half per person—which should ensure ser vice for the customers.

Cabins come in single, double and three-berth varieties and many of them have their own showers and lavatories.

Prices range from £425 to £570 for a single cabin, depending on whether inside, outside or

with shower, etc.

Single cabins with pullman berth are £345-£4OO, Double berth cabins are £4OO - per berth de

pending on location and whether they have showers, etc., or not; and three berth cabins are from £3lO-£4OO per berth.

These fares are for Fremantle back -to - Fremantle o r Sydney back-to-Sydney. Melbourne-back-to- Melbourne is £lO more per berth in each case—presumably because of the extra day or so involved.

It is anticipated that some berths will be available for New Guinea passengers who wish to join in Rabaul (although priority, naturally, must go to passengers taking the full round trip). New Guinea passengers would have to complete their return journey from Sydney by air or by some other ship, Sydney booking agents for the cruise are Swire and Yuill Pty. Ltd,

-6 Bridge Street. In Perth or I mantle, Dalgety and New Zeals Loan Ltd., 15-17 William Street] Melbourne, John Sanderson and] Pty. Ltd, 305 Little Collins Std and in Rabaul, Colyer Watson (N Ltd.

Africa is Still Worthwhile—Part I ALTHOUGH in the tourist sei the whole of Africa has beep partial eclipse for the last couple years, there still is no more fascd ing place to visit. And for the Pac Islands resident, a visit to either So Africa, the Rhodesias, or East Ah —or to all of them—pays dou dividends as something of a prev of events that “could happen herei For the traditional tourist who determined to take affairs at f value, Africa seems very much as has always been; for those who 1 to probe beneath the surface, then plenty to discover and think ab( The choice is strictly up to the tou as to which sort of visitor he will] Africa can be included in an ticket to London at about £4O ei cost; and on a round-the-word t home via the United States, at ab £6O extra.

Return air-fare Sydney-Johant burg-Sydney is £5Ol/15/- econo class; and £657 first class. Single fare, Sydney-Johannesburg-London £A34B/15/-, economy class; J £AS4B/9/- first class. Round-t world fares, back through USA,] £A6OI/17/- economy class; I £A94I/2/- first class.

Qantas Airways has a fortnigf service with Super-Constellation craft between Sydney and Johani burg; and South African Airways; a service in the alternative we Crossing the Indian Ocean calls 1 made at Cocos and at Mauritius.

From Johannesburg, BOAC i SAA jet aircraft have an almost d* frequency along alternative routes] eluding Livingstone (Northern R desia—for Victoria Falls); Nair( Kenya; Khartoum, Sudan; Cairo; I Rome to London.

Johannesburg, in spite of its popi tion of over 1,000,000, is uninspid as cities go. It is essentially a min town that has grown too large! its own good, situated on the f high veldt at over 5,000 ft, and ab 300 miles from its nearest seaco But it is a good jumping off pli for a safari tour of the Kruj National Park which can be seed a complete trip in itself or combii with an overland journey to Durb The Kruger game reserve runs 1 in a narrow strip of country bes

The "Pacific Islands Monthly" is a member of the Australian National Travel Association (ANTA) and the Pacific Area Travel Association (PATA), which are pledged to promote tourist travel in their areas.

jorder of Mozambique, and the er north you go in the reserve etter chance there is of seeing the game like elephants, although in the southern part, nearest inesburg there are plenty of e, buck, rhino and even a few commodation within the reserve >rified camping—tourists usually I in a communal dining room keeping in two-bedded huts or vels. At a smaller reserve r Durban, accommodation is in rondavels but a native ser is provided with each unit to e cooking. ;n the fussy traveller will find :commodation adequate and his sight of big game will com te for any minor discomforts. ;se safaris are usually under in cars—some of them seven s—-large enough to adjust to the Rations and dust of African A European driver-guide will charge of the party throughout hey know the country and the es intimately. Drive-yourself lay be hired in Johannesburg— fly expensive rates—but a first 0 the game reserves is probably undertaken with a guide. The Durney from Johannesburg to mthern entrance to Kruger is jst part of a day’s drive, and inside the reserve there are 1 rules and regulations that be observed. th Africa is a land of great :es and car travel can have all scomforts of similar travel in ustralian outback. Except for ime reserves, air travel is the 2t. n Johannesburg, Durban is U hours away by air and so irenco Marques, the capital of nbique or Portuguese East The latter is well worth a ) see what Africa is like when a Portuguese flavour. Cape is about three or four air hours

from Johannesburg.

> things that usually astonish who have only read about Africa, are that it is neither I nor tropical. Cape Province climate something like Vic- Natal like southern Queens •ut most of the interior consists nendous grass plains at eleva ip to 6,000 feet which can be ght cold in winter and blister ot in summer. e are few forest areas, but lian eucalypts are grown in ions and so is Australian Around Pietermaritzburg in Is behind Durban, they strip k from plantation-grown Aus

tralian wattle, export it to Australia for tanning and make handsome profits.

NOTE; It incenses some Johannes burg residents to hear tourists call their city Jo’burg. Give it its correct title. (Next month: Victoria Falls and East Africa.) BSIP Has Welcome Mat for Tourists The British Solomon Islands Pro tectorate, which was out on the end of a long limb until Fiji Airways com pleted the Honiara-New Hebrides-Fiji link at the end of last year, is now making its own modest bid for tourists.

Mr. Alvin Blum, an American citizen and one of Honiara’s leading businessmen, has recently become BSIP agent for Hunts Travel, Fiji.

It is apparently believed that it is from the Fiji end that most tourists will come, although the link from Australia through New Guinea down through the Solomons has been in existence for years.

Mr. Blum meets all tourists and

conducts them around the parts o f Guadalcanal get -at - able from Honiara includ ing famous Hen derson Field where US Marines gained fame in World

aer

War II and which is now Honiara’s airport.

An American travel agency in cluded Honiara in a package Pacific tour last year and will do so again this year, and on that occasion the agency chartered the aircraft in Fiji and returned the same way after a couple of days in the Protectorate.

The traveller who does the same thing under his own steam will find it a little less convenient than that.

He must either wait two weeks in Honiara to get a plane back to Fiji; leave for New Guinea on the dawn following his afternoon arrival in Honiara from Fiji; or wait almost a week to do the same thing on the following plane.

In any of these cases, the time in Honiara for the average tourist is either too short or too long.

The Hotel Mendana, in Honiara, is adequate for most travellers’ re quirements, but should there be a sudden influx of tourists, it has al ready been planned for accommoda tion to be arranged privately. (This would only be for large parties, mak ing advance arrangements.) Fiji Airways uses Heron aircraft on the service and for long ocean

hops they carry only about seven passengers. They leave Nausori, near Suva, at 8.30 a.m. on alternate Sun days, call at Nadi on the other side of the island and arrive at Vila, New Hebrides, at 1 p.m. local time, where an overnight stop is made. Next morning there is an hour’s flight to Santo, NH, and then a five hours’ hop to Honiara.

To anyone conditioned to jet air craft, the Herons seem very small indeed, but for the adventurous, bat ting around the unspoiled SW Pacific in them has its own peculiar charm.

As Mr. Blum has pointed out to us “you really feel that you’re flying”.

Trans - Australia Airlines, which operates the Hon iara-Lae, NG, ser vice uses Fokker

Friendship aircraft one week, and DCS aircraft the next. Calls are made at Yandina, Munda, Buka, Rabaul be fore reaching Lae in mid-afternoon (after a 6 a.m. start from Honiara).

At Lae there are DC6 connections to Port Moresby and Australia—and in Port Moresby there is a connec tion with Qantas Electras for Manila and the Far East.

Fares by Fiji Airways, Nausori- Honiara, £FS7/9/- or approximately £A64/12/6 or $146. Fare from Honiara to Sydney by TAA is £9l/14/- or approximately $2lO.

London's First Motel Motel-conditioned Australians and Americans will be interested in London’s first venture into this tourist accommodation—the “Master Robert”, on the Great Western Road at Osterley, about three miles from London Airport (which still makes it about an hour’s drive from the West End, of course).

Accommodation is provided for 58 people in nine double and eight single units. The units are in the best modern motel style, with bath, tele vision, radio and heating. Rates are from £Stg.2/10/- single per night.