WHAT TO DO

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2353, 8 January 1915, Page 9

WHAT TO DO

FOB VISITORS TO : WELLINGTON. "Please toll us what we are to dowhere can one go. in Wellington. This was the appeal made to the_ writer by a young lady from Wanganui, who, having elected to spend her holiday in Wellington, confessed that she felt the time hanging on her hands. "We would go back 1 to-morrow if we were sure they would not laugh at üb," she said in comio despair. As there' may he others who tired of attempting to find tho blue bird of happiness on Lambton Quay, it might Le in place to note exactly what can be seen in Wellington, and the way to go about it. Assuiuing that people oh holiday desirq a closer acquaintance with "earth, air, ooean, glorious three," there is no necessity to mention the museum, the cemeteries, or tie seoond-hand book shops. Nature within us cries _ clamantly for the open, and there holiday-makers or all ages and both sexes love to be of a January day. There is no city in New Zealand so conveniently planned in 1 respect to recognised . beaches, and no loiterer who feels bored to death in Willis Street of a hot summer's afternoon need be eo when there are cars whizzing by every ten minutes labelled Lyall Bay, Island Bay, and Seatoun. From the last-named seaside snuggery, one may view the ships that como and go with - hour. Far away in the summer haze the forepart of the wrecked steamer Devon still clutches the snarling rocks below Pencarrow lighthouse. There is always animation in a view from Seatoun, and if oil© wishes "to entirely shut out th© world and feel a regular Eobinson Crusoe—monarch of all one surveysthere is Breaker Bay hiding behind Fort Dorset, and further round there aro rock-sewn seas where the big seas ohant their eternal symphony. Compared with suburban Seatoun, Lyall Bay is an up-to-date bathing town —a Boulogne or Ostend in the making —and one day our children will probaWy see the beaoh shut in with a crescent of palatial hotels and "flats." Wellington is still only a boy among the cities, but it has growing pains badly. Island Bay is inclined to be quietei and more sedate. The bay is nicely sheltered by a picturesque island and has bathing-houses and tea-rooms in plenty, If one wishes to be exclusive there is Houghton Bay to the east and Ohiro Bay to the west, both picturesque dents in the ooast. Across the harbour is Day's Bay— one of the prottiest spots adjacent to a city in all Australasia. When one hears of people talking of the superiority of the oharm of Manly, Coogce, Sumner, or Takapuna, it is safe to say that none of them have the scenic charm—with its wonderful back cloth of mountain bush, its beautifully laid-out-ground; curving beach, 'cute bungalows—of Day's Bay. And now the City Council administers the property for the common,veal tennis be played by anyone; all may picnic, bathe, or. dream dreams for a mere song. To the energetic a walk along the harbour coast to Pencarrow _ is quite an ordinary foat of pedestrianism and gives one new views of Wellington and the entrance. Right in the City there is a Zoo, with plenty of permanent residents well worthy of close study. Thousands "have patronised this pleasant spot during the holidays. All should know of it. Tho tram drops one at tho gate. To those who wouid sample the country air, there is the Hutt Valley, with the famous model camp at Trentham, the five golf links at Heretaunga, and the lovely gardens at Bcllevue. Should one feel a desire to venture further there are surpriso vistas on the Wainui Road, and a glimpse of paradise on earth at the waterworks. Near the terminus' of the Wadestown tram is Wilton's Bush, an attractive forest reserve whero the bell-bird sings at <ve and one may lose the world when within half an hour of its _ clamour. Up the line a little there is Plimmerton, a charming little resort, and raither more remote Titahi Bay, which looks out on to Cook Strait, and tho faint blue mountains of tho South Island. . As a matter of fact Wellington is not a wliit behind any New Zealand centre for open-air attractions. Tho stranger only wants to know what ni d where tliey are, and in no tourist, or railway, or civic office is there a folder or pamphlet giving the required information,