OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3042, 31 March 1917, Page 15

OFF THE BEATEN TRACK

_'Sir,— My object in penning these fei lines ia to. draw tho attention of Easto holiday-makers to one of the many al tractions that abound in Now Zoalan a little off the beaton track of rail ways, steamers race meetings, eto., tha are so favoured by them,for want o suggestion or direction- when seeking relaxation at a vacation, to build them selves ,up for tho balance of the year Few comparatively have visited Mon key-face, Green Hills, Kaikoura South to hear tho most wonderful eohoes i tho Dominion j and you will look . i vain through any tourist guide, Gov ornment or otherwise, drawing atten tion to, the advantage in .this land- o wonders to those occasionally- divert ing from the regular coach road. • , During the past Christmas holiday I had a remarkable trip to what migh ibe termed "the baok of beyond," s far as the southern'portion of th North Island is concerned. 'I woul< therefore like to suggest to others tha few -have seen, though only on- ou doorstep. •' ; \Leaving tho train at'Featherston, ! jumped into the car owned and drivei by genial James, the Squire of Pirinoa and journeyed to Lower Valley vii Martinborough, calling on tho way a Otaria Station, to see, as far as I an aware, the biggest New Zealand tui putting up at Pirinoa for the night In tho morning 'we visited tho orohard which is of considerable extent, situ ato_ in an ideal position, fringed b; ■ native' bush.. ''The.' cherry trees ar wire-netted •to protect tho fruit'froi the. birds, gonial James informing m> that no continued length of drough seemed to interfere with the prolifi bearing of the trees, duo doubtless t the tears of mortification shed by th birds-from'the top at the forbiddo: fruit. homestead a num bor of artists were busily at work wit] the brush, taking in tho lovely s'ui roundings. By car we . journeyei to the sea'coast at Whangamona, a dis t-ance of,eight or ten miles from Piri noa, where horses were in waiting i< take us along tho east shore of Palli ser Bay. For the first six or sovei miles the : beach is very heavy, ! an( osn only be' negotiated with safety a low tide if a southerly swell is rollinj in. A .Maori, carrying the mail lost hi life some time previously through beinj too -venturesome. You pass unde. high and . almost precipitous cliffs o papa formation, grotesquely sorratei by tho weather, requiring -little forci of i imagination to suggest the hea'ds c well-known celebrities, castles, forts etc. A lesson to the observant of Na ture's vagaries. .The.ranges reced from the coast after about eight mile have been .left bohind, and travellin; becomes fairly good for aomo distanc past tho Palhser Bay lighthouse. . I saw tho most beautiful sunset „. had ever witnessed from the verandah of the''Whatorangi Station. Perching apparently above the seaward Kaikoura range, the sun lookod like a huge orb of molten gold, the intervening sea was,'absolutely 'calm'(unusual), and aa Old Sol gradually sank behind the range the whole horizon was streaked with all the colours of the rainbow, of varying intensity) fading as tho light lessened, completing a picture thattho lover of the beautiful would think it worth while to circle the world to Bee.'

'■'.'This part of the coast is a sportsman's paradisa. Up any of the streams that empty into the sea there aro. innumerable camping grounds that cannot ho surpassed for the beauty, of surroundings. Deer are to he seen by tho hundreds,, California*! quail everywhere, the virgin bush teems with "pigeons; and there are droves of wild pigs and goats in every gully and on the spurs. Off Fish Rock, a flat topped protruberanca into deep urater, situate about a mile from tho lighthouse, a party of five landed one hundred hapuka, with, the line, in almost threo hours. Part of the hills near by were .pointed out.to,us. by i returned soldier '(with'a'shuddery as almost a' facsimile ,oJ tho heighii oS GaUipolij and to add

to fcho semblance, closn hy aro.'iha. graves of twolvo Bailors who were > drowned from tho Zulieka, iu April, 1897, the plots being kept in good preservation, thanks to the lighthouse- j kecperßv Tho scene of tho Ben Avon s wreck is not far distant. "Wo saw-in-places tho beach strewn with dead shrimps, cast, up from somo cause. Largo black-fish were to be seen almost daity, close in shore. I think the foregoing will give a slight idea of some of tho attractions of. this out-of-the-way. pleasure resort. I may add thai' the pleasure of tho trip was not ' ■a little added to by tiio hospitality and kindness of tho ma.nager of Whatarangi Station, a kindness and thought- j fulness that, can be Kafely relied on by j all who pay thab part a visit.—l am, i etc., . ' ■ . ' ■ ! H. A. W. MIL: