ELEPHANTS & WILD HORSES FREQUENT UNUSUAL N.Z. “PUB”

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 81, 4 January 1950, Page 8

ELEPHANTS & WILD HORSES FREQUENT UNUSUAL N.Z. “PUB”

“Bad Beer—Dirty Glasses—-Crook Change—lncivility —Come In.” Unusual as this notice in big, bold letters on the facade of the Rangitaiki Hotel, 31 miles'east of Taupo, is, it is just one of the many surprises for visitors to one of the most outlandish places in the Waimarino electorate.

There are £1 and 10s notes adorning the ceiling of the bar-room, a tame horse, formerly one of the many wild animals that roamed the plains, that is qifite at home inside the hotel. Plus Two Elephants

And in the nearby birch forest are two elephants. Fittingly described as an oasis in the desert, the settlement is proud of its little hotel, on which hardy workers from miles around converge at week-ends for a little relaxation. So unique is the settlement that the visitor immediately forms the impression that he has inadvertently wandered across the set of a western film.

So impressed was one visitor to the hotel a few years ago that he pinned a banknote on the ceiling of the bar-room to ensure that he would have some funds in hand when on a future visit. This odd behaviour, but not so unusual when one has visited the area, has spread and today there is about £2O in £1 and 10s notes on the ceiling.

Clumping up the passage of the hotel does not denote the arrival of a heavy-footed worker for a pint of ale. Comparatively strangers wondering at the noise find the answer when a fully-grown horse walks unescorted into the bar. Said to have belonged to a circus which suddenly ceased its activities about seven years ago, two elephants are quite at home in the neighbouring birch forest, but today there are no circus crowds to applaud their efforts. Their role now is the removal of large birch logs which they handle with ease.

Wild Dogs and Horses Wild dogs, pigs, deer, horses and cattle rove the uncultivated plains. Dogs, many of which are a cross between Great Danes and Alsatians, hunt in packs and often kill fullsized cattle and deer. They have been known to tear tame dogs to bits. The settlement so - impresses many visitors that they return each summer, when bookings at the hotel are heavy. Living an entirely different existence from what is normally expected in New Zealand, the settlers are in a world of their own. They make it their business to strike up acquaintance with all newcomers, who, if they enter the bar, must be prepared to “shout” drinks all round.

That is the custom, and Exceptions are not treated in a kindlylight. The compliment is always returned.