Overseas duty travel to east Africa and New Zealand

Overseas duty travel to east Africa and New Zealand

I proposed a tour of duty overseas to discuss and promote work on breeding eucalypts in general, and in breeding E. deglupta specifically, and try to obtain as much relevant feedback as possible from face-toface contacts.

W L Conroy, Secretary, Foreign Relations Division, Department of Foreign Relations and Trade wrote to the Director of Forests approving my tour of duty to Africa and New Zealand from 21 September to 17 November 1973 with full salary and a generous overseas travel allowance. To meet this timetable, which was planned around several international meetings and workshops, I had to request a deferment of recreation leave for five months, so that leave could occur after the duty travel. The Public Service Board also granted that request. The itinerary was arranged by various conference organisers and incorporated parts of post conference tours in Africa. The then East African Agriculture and Forestry Research Organisation (EAAFRO) provided assistance with the itinerary in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Personal forestry contacts assisted also with suggestions on what to see and where to see it.

The planned itinerary for the overseas duty travel was:

Principal route planned to be followed 22 September to 7 November 1973. Solid lines by air, dotted lines by road. Zimbabwe on this map was still called Rhodesia in 1973. Zimbabwe gained international recognition as an independent state in 1980. The actual tour closely followed the planned route and schedule.

Friday 21 September 1973, LAE – SYDNEY, dep. Lae 11.30 AM, via Port Moresby dep. 1:30 PM, TAA Boeing 727. Saturday 22 September, SYDNEY – JOHANNESBURG, dep 10.15 AM, via Perth and Mauritius, South African Airways Flight SA421 operated by Qantas Boeing 707. Overnight Johannesburg. Sunday 23 September, JOHANNESBURG – CAPE TOWN, South African Airways Flight SA349.