WOOING THE WAVES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2971, 8 January 1917, Page 9

WOOING THE WAVES

ROUND WELLINGTON'S BEACHES "THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE SEASIDE AIR " [By Sylyius.3 The average person who is content with the city, day in and out, with the clanging tramenrs and hurrying crowds, misses somethiug in life by neglecting •the benches and rocks of our adjacent coasts that words aro inadequate to fully express. One thing is certain— once a person lives a week or two !>}■_ the sounding sea-, with Nature's uni-' Tersal bath within a hi sen it-throw of his bed or bunk, they never'forget it. Thoy either become regular summer seasiders or take permanent root Dear the ever-changing sands, counting the world well lost until grim necessity forces them to rub shoulders once more with the world where the crowds are thickest, returning to town with Naturo's bronze glowiug healthily on their brows, and feeling strangely but delightfully Tevived and v freshened by their contact with Nature. During the past three weeks AVelliiigton's waterside places have been thronged with people probably as they never have before.' Each sunny summer finds hundreds of recruits for the surf and' stiller waters, and each year finds tho experience a fine tbnic-for the somewhat unhealthy trend that has insidiously crept into our literature and entertainments. The sea purifies all. That the free,'open-air life to bo found at our waterside resorts is beneficial both physically and mentally to the individual and the race few will deny. The eastern beaches, between Lowry Bay and Muritai South, have been swarmed with lifo during the past week or two, and will continue tho same as long as tho present spell of superb weather lasts. Ono of the flics in the ointment during the past week or more has been a. shortage of water. Mr. D. C. Bates, the Government Meteorologist.!_ has done hjs best to influence 2-ain this way, but his gloomy prognostications throughout tho holidays, perhaps intended to cheer up the tanktappers, were never once- verified in AVellington, absolutely brilliant weather having laughed to scorn the alleged low pressures that were te gloom our cerulean skies. It has been great weather for the sand-flies and mosquitoes' over that war, and most strangers who have crossed the harbour have "that itchy feeling" that so frequently. _is associated with holidays and sand in tho sugar. Lyallßay has also been wonderfully well patronised. The City Council have laid themselves out to make that farextending ocean bay a popular resort, with no little success. The Lyall Bay tramway service is so good that no ono writes to the paper about it. Thanks to the glorious weather the present holiday season has been the best bathing season we have enjoyed since Lyall Bay came into its own. Island Bay has its devotee's, too. Not. so much in the public eye, perhaps, as Day's Bay, island Bey still has its charms. It is more self-contained, confined, and protected 'by. neighbouring hills ami the island,, and , its fine stretch of smooth sand is. ideal'for picnickers. The two little bays on cither side—Ohiro and Houghton Bays—are picturesque indentations in-the coast, and both are traversed by good roads, the former by the road that links up Island Bay with Brooklyn (now a popular motor run), and the latter by the Queen's Drive. In both cases tho beaches shelve rather rapidly into deep water to make them popular with bathers. Seatoiin (pronounced'Seaton, please) is a go-ahead suburb that is rapidly assuming the proportions of a. townlet. It is a pleasant place, in'fine weather, pooled by all tho winds, and parts of it are washed by all. tho waters. Quite recently. Father Noptuno violated Seatoun's neutrality by smashing up a stout concrete wall and scooping out an area of shingly land it was supposed to protect. An effort' is now being made to beat back tho enemy, but the loose shingly nature of the land makes the job a problem on which the Miramar Borougn could waste a fortune without doing much good; Some irreverent person suggested a few days ago that the. council might utilise its dufunct power-house as a breakwater, but such a suggestion is not to bo taken too seriously. Seatouu's beaches are mostly mushy shingle, but there is ample compensation at AVorser Bay, a very lino stretch of ■ fine sand, shelving gradually into well-protected water within the entrance, and much favoured by those who prefer plain bathing to surfing, ''he building " activity that lias been apparent in the bay during last year is a pointer to its popularity, ft is practically free, too, from itch-pro-moters. AVorser Bay is only five minutes', walk from the tramway line. Further up the entrance from AA'or-se'r-Bay" is Karaka Bay, one of the oldest week-ender resorts in AVellington, and now a gem among residential seaside resorts. .A quarter of a century or more ago this favoured spot was the weekly Mecca of the rowing and yachting men of AVellington, and evidences may still be found in the bay and. at Scorching Bay, a little farther on, of the visits of those who are now getting well <m in years or have passed to' the Great' Beyond. Here the coast is rough and rocky, as a rule, with ■ here and there little beaches of the cleanest sand, which form exclusive and- , -'dyllic bathing grounds. Karaka, Bay residents aro troubled with nothing more formidable than snails, daddy-long-legs, and moths, and have: the advantage of City water, electric light, gas, and drainage. There was a time,when Lowry Bay would have figured prominently in any reference to AVellingten's seaside resorts, but to-day it is outside the pale as far as .the general public is concerned, as there are no regular services ix> that delightful spot.. To motorists this bay is well known, and few who visit it can forget its pleasant beach, and the lovely grounds attached to tho few residences that fringe, its crescent shore. Thah of the Hon. Sir Francis Bell has been handed over to the Government as a convalescent home for soldiers. It is very doubtful if there could be a better spot Tor such a home in the district.