THE NATURAL BEAUTIES OF WELLINGTON.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1699, 15 March 1913, Page 5

THE NATURAL BEAUTIES OF WELLINGTON.

PRIZE ESSAY.•'

fßy Mrs. W. 0. Chatfiold.] .

Vn writing of. Wellington, I mjist pro- ■ mise that I una real lover of'the place, one who goes far axfay from Lambton Quay or Cuba Street, or any part whereone may find unbeaiitiful buildings or narrow streets, or .the many things that the casual passer-by, may cavil at. I like to look at: Wellington, from the heights first of all. ,-iTake. the . wireless . station, what a panorama'of beauty greets one „there. : First of all many pretty homes . nestling in the. nooks of the: : hixls; the Botanical Gardens, with trees of multishades of green, deep pinfes,/tender willows, and soft, grey-greens of native trees, brilliant splashes of-colour from -the ar-. . tiktio borders and pillars of sweet peas, and all - the ourious and lovely -flowering shrubs that ;are there collected and carefully./tended. . Away,tone's "gaze : goe3 to 'the oity, with. many, fine;.tali, iipstanding buildings. At that distanco one is not finely critical, but can -see effect of many '■ plaices is', dignified- and. prosperous. Away-to the long wharves, which occupy such a' long stretch of, water-froat,_ well .decorated':- with fine ' English and colonial, Steamships,' ! dear, .old "windjammers" . with their : noble' masts,. and . the little : '"mosquito" fleet, " great sheds full of produce, numbers of cranes, the whole giving pile Vhe idea of business and prosperity. ■ ' " Then our harbour, that needs a ; para-, graph to itself; "naught but jealousy or in-, difference could deny its beauty,' whether mirror-like, reflecting the ' surroundiiig hills, and myriad lights at night, dancing and glittering as though the.fairies ijere holding'their revels, or'"darkly, deeply, beautifully .blue,"" or- tossing wildly grey and green, vjith the white horses rising their crested manes and the spray flying to the';: north'" or south as the' insistent . wind 'directs.' . Those who-••live.-at Kelburno or Koseneath, -or on any of the heights round Wellington must surely find the harbour a never-ending panorama of joyful.; beauty. . Take, a motor drive, and: start : from town, round Oriental Bay, with its sheltered peaceful shore, over Roseneath Hill,.and.pause there and

look up the-Hutt Valley. "Across . the -J water nestles Petone, : .with its busy wool- '> leu works' and other industries, to tho } pretty residential Hutt, with glorious gardens and? English trees,-the Hutt River i like a>silver streak, bordered with green. I Away-into misty'shadows-of -grey -. «nd i •( purple, "slow dropping veils of thinnest' i gauze" leading to the' noble Rimutak-as, i whichi-.sometimes snow-capped, keep their i silent ,watch-over. the ever-changing life below. Then-rwe - como: tor.LoTCry.i.Bay;Say's Bay, Rona Bay; all gemmed wiflrt fine bush, andcprettyihouses.,--.At'Day's Bay a fine -'House": and pavilion, croquet ; and tennis-lawns,,water chute,' and 'many other, joys -for-'the 'little- ones, the coni- : fortable -ferry , boats, .flying to aii<rfrom Svith happy -crowds .of holiday-makers.' Then Evans' Bay,-usually quiet- and flective-,.'landlocked; with the forts on one side and'various pretty, little-recesses on the other, . with seaside' cottages .tucked, away' in:snug corners.■ Then .wc pass Ilataitai and Kilbirnie, with their'good roads or comfortable homes, and come to Lyall Bay. Thero a, fine stretch of beach, with, the surf, loved-of bathers, rolling in, and, beyond, the 'Sea. "Beautiful, sublime, and glorious, Mild, majestic,foaming, free.V Overvtime' itself victorious— , Image of Eternity!" ' From Lyall - Bay we . seefn to realise the! grandeur ' tlf the. occan most of all, and also'-the fine : arrangements for the comfort and safety of visitors aro most marked. Altogether'a healthy, pretty and prosperous suburb. v Then wo. continue .our trip round the Queen's Drive, a. good road, bracing salt air, a glorious view over blue water to the Kaikouras; "silent i pinnacles or ancient snow" upstanding sheer out of. the, water, with clear' bluo shadows in the sunshine, surely a sight to drive away megrims from any-"sad soul. Come we then to Island Bay, with its cone-like .island standing protectingly.oiit from the beach, breaking the soiitherlies, and making a safe and hunting-ground for many happy little and big ones who ' love a swim, and lazing on the sand in the sunshine afterwards. ' Away in tho narrow valley leading to town aro, many homesteads, with the Home of Compassion, that monument of tho noble work of ono, and kindness and. generosity of-many, io the saddest, of suffering humanity. Continue our drive to the lights of Vogeltown and Brooklyn, and wo seo quito another view of- tho .harbour =.and city, Newtown outstretched, with the park and

all its attractions, birds, sea-lions, and fine playgrounds for the children, all set with nice, plantations. Away to the sea—seemingly nvo lakes from there, with soft yellow-brown ,kopjes all round, shading off to , distant ranges, grey and purple, witJi deep shadows. Then on to lvaron, truly named "Beautiful Karori. up on a hill there'wo look at the reservoir, deep'bosomed on the lulls, closed softly with grey-green rangiora and ti-tree. Away to another view of the Hutt, and also over Karori itself, with perhap3 the prettiest houses-of .all, and in the distance the cemetery, beautifully planted and decorated, where the wind sweeps over and says, "Not yet, in quiet lie." At the back, of Karori lie noble hills, pretty bush-; ; clothed, and presently we come to an exi cellent road which brings us with gentle j undulations to Wadestown, where on cne j side we-look away to.beautiful bush and. hill slopes, and on the other to Thorndon, with its trees and gardens and busj : railway stations, away to tho Heads, with i Somes and Ward Islands, and rugged rock 9 keeping silent guard over the-en-trance to our City of Hope and Beauty. ■ To sunyaip, what* & stranger with small means might 6ee in Wellington is not altogether easy, it seems to me there is so much to do and to see. The trams run frequently, to all the suburbs, .and pleasant' trips can be taken to Miramar, Seatoun, Lyall Bay, Island Bay, Karon, Oriental Bay, and Brooklyn; steamer trips to Day's Bay and tho other bays across tho harbour, where there is good native bush and'scenery of J-iie roads everywhere are remarkably good, and motoring is a keen plea-sure. One specially delightful run is away up to the Hutt, perhaps pausing to see the gard6ns there, with many beautiful and rare trees, and so on to Heretaunga, where the racecourse and golf link 9 are well worth, a In town our museum ig a,perfect mine yf' interest to an intelligent mind, the ifaori house is perhap9 the. best in Zealand, and one wants more days than, one to see andtake in the valuable and iniJerestihg cunos'collected in a very unpretentious building. * Any person who has not bean through the Government Printing Works has little idea of the immense interest and information to be gathered there. For those who, like Budge and -Toddie,/.'want • to see • the wheels go round/'' can find mills and manufactories ~ and - power 'houses galore, all of which aTe Well worth seeing, and, I am told, quite -up to date. 1 Wellington climate has been .joked about, and 1 perhaps ■ sneered at, a s°°d deal,• but l those who live there all Ihe year round find that, apart, from . the two equinoctial seasons, the climate is uniformly even and, pleasant. - The. formation of the hill causes a-certain - amount of wind, but it serves.a .useful purpose,, and blows away microbes asd epidemics,,,and I believe,l-am correct jn. saying that our. death-rate is the lowest in, the Dominion. One lias only to notice the ; people one meets in,, tho ■ streets, .and see : how

.thoroughly heaithj. tlio majority look. ' The cliinate of Wellington noeds no ad- 1 vertising to an observant person. - | ■ ■ 1 In conclusion, as to. suggesting improve- ' ipents that might bo made, I would say: ! to the Executive Committee of tho Easter ■ Carnival: Plant', and. plant,, and- plantagain! Think what wonders have been . accomplished by means of soil and climat», and directed by skill, and backed • by money, at new Government House grounds,;-think of -barely two years ago, -the' dreary -heaps of yellow, clay, -, the yellow clay banks, the abomination of ;desolation that reigned there. Look' now< at the green lawns, quite suited already for tennis or croquet, soft messy green banks, a riot of colour in tlio' borders, iriysom breanthenium and gazania, clothing unpromising slones and corners, and smiling.with vivid lips in the sunshine, our beautiful nativo flax'-in its various' kinds adorning the-reserves, and, ho of good cheer, realising hov.- quickly a good effect can be obtained in good old Wellington. . I would like to see more J'-nglisli , trees planted here; there are too few. In Christchurcli, one loves their tender green in the springtime, their summer profusion, tho lovely tints of gold and 'crimson and brown in 'tho autumn, and the swish of them as .they have fallen, and one walks ankle-deep through them,' and even in the winter, when th.e boughs are 'like gaunt arms thrown ■-imploringly up to heaven, they have a beauty of their own. As' well as -English trees, I would like to seo many nativo ■ trees,- and specially shrubs, plaira.d; in every-niece of bush . ono sees such dainty shrubs, and they sen-m very hardy, too. But were I a, committee man or woman, I would set my face like a flint. against macrocarpas or pines—tlioy are gloomy in colour, and do 1 not Inst, sn I would banish them all from 1 baauliful Wellington.