HIGH PRAISE FOR N.Z. SCENERY

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 109, 1 February 1935, Page 10

HIGH PRAISE FOR N.Z. SCENERY

Photographer-Writer’s View ARTICLE FOR PROMINENT MAGAZINE Hardly a tourist conies to New Zealand without some word of praise for at least those scenes of mountain or coast which have impressed him most. Such praise is gratifying; but there is a peculiar value in praise from Mr. AV. Robert Moore, a staff photographer of the “National Geographic . Magazine,” whose eye has been trained to the appreciation of scenic values , in many parts of the world. Mo. Moore, who arrived in Christchurch this week, is collecting material, both literary and photographic, for an illustrated article for the magazine. His intention is to produce an article which will give a comprehensive idea of the Dominion; and while he is paying particular attention to places of unusual scenic- interest, he wishes to leave untouched no aspect which may help to show readers of the “National Geographic Magazine” what the country is really like. Mr. Moore lias already travelled over the greater part of the North and South Islands, having covered a distance of more than 20(10 miles. He passed through Christchurch during the visit of the Duke of Gloucester, but did not. stay there then because lie wished to see the city in its normal slate. “A Land of Paradox.” “I find New Zealand interesting cliiefly because of its contrasts, ’ Mr. Moore told a reporter. “It seems a hackneyed phrase to use, but it is actually true for your country—it is a land of paradox. Coming over from the West Coast I saw the change from the everlasting snows to semi-tropical bush; anil there is the contrast between the heavily bushed West Coast and the sunny plains on this side of’the mountains.” On Tuesday Mr. Moore was at Mount Cook, where he spent what he described as “the most glorious day in my life.? “It is not the first time I have seen mountains,” he said, "as I have been in the Andes and the Himalayas; but I can assure you that for sheer .rugged beauty the Southern Alps are unsurpassed. I began photographing Mount Cook from about 45 miles away, and took other views of it right up to the foot of the mountain. I had a camera in my hand from half past eight in the morning until after 6 o’clock at night.” At Waitoino. Mr. Moore has not yet finished his tour of the North Island, and he will return shortly to visit districts omitted, earlier. He has been to the Waitoino Caves, however, and the- glowworm cave, he said, was flic loveliest thing he had ever seen. He could not find words to describe it adequately, but he had never seen anything so fas einn ting. Willi the manner of a person making an unexpected admission, Mr. Moore said that he was, personally, just as interested in Hie gold dredges no had seen on the West Coast and the dairying and wheat-growing lands of the Dominion, as in the mountain scenery. To be able to write an article which would give an idea of the country as a whole, it was necessary to pay attention to every aspect [>E the life of the people. Anyone who passed through New Zealand without observing, for instance, the wide farm lands of the Canterbury plains, would be missing something essential to a real appreciation of the country. Mr. Moore lias already taken a great many photographs, many of them on coloured plate's. Forty of these were taken at Mount Cook.