South Pacific Survey 25th June 1951

The morning was spent in moving the marker lines and this entailed quite an amount of swimming by self and finally the lines became so tangled that they had to be brought ashore, too many experts. During the afternoon the Catalina was slipped from moorings and a taxi test done to check engines, which are still quite good.

On the way home to Apia we deviated and climbed up the south coast road, and even the slight rise in altitude brought the cooling change in temperature. The change also showed up on the coconut palm which will not live above a certain altitude, ie 400 ft. There were plenty of banana and cocoa plantations. The banana being grown to provide the necessary shelter for the cocoa treee in it's early stages. After the banana has fully produced and is cut down, the cocoa tree stands on it's own.

During the evening the party was invited to hear the broadcast made by Broodie, Prichard and Silcock. I felt it was rather corny and said so, and that there were too many controversial issues to be raised satisfactorily and that it was too technical for the average person.

They decided to re-organise the program and asked if I would join in, as if I did not, it would be a trifle disjointed. This was agreed to and though it was still an unprepared effort, it was an infinitely better programme than the previous one.

editors note: I can only assume this is a tape recorded message from the expedition, to be relayed to NZ, to play on the NZ radio.