BAYS AND BEACHES

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 17, 21 January 1924, Page 15

BAYS AND BEACHES

The visitor to Wellington could not justify the impressions gained on a sojourn in the capital city, nor could he feel competent to pass fair judgment upon it, without seeing at least a few of the beautiful bays which indent .the littoral of the harbour and relieve the ruggedness of the coast-line a few miles distant from the city. Like the harbours in other parts of' the Dominion, Port Nicholson is well provided for by Nature in sheltered bays—bays which afford good protection from the fiercest winds— and one_ has a choice of a number of attractive and easily accessible spots in selecting a place for a quiet holiday beside the sea. Popular taste favours one or two of the dozen or more inlets that He within easy reach by ferry, tram, motor, or by foot, but other resorts deserve greater popularity than they have achieved. The motorist is able to "do" most of the seaside places of Wellington in a few hours' steady driving, and the visitor who is the'fortunate possessor o£ a private car, or who is able to make the journey around the foreshore by taxi or through the hospitality of friends, will be surprised perhaps at the variety which the littoral of port Nicholson affords in scenic beauty: In a few years' time, when the foreshore.roads are all of the excellent surface now being laid on. the Hutt road, it will be.possible for the motorist to make a complete circuit of the coastline

of Wellington and its neighbouring bays, following the water's edge for something like fifty miles. Commencing the run from Brooklyn and reaching the southern bays by way of Happy Valley—in itself a delightful downhill drive or walk—the visitor will be whirled along level road for the,entire length of coastline referred to—one of the finest drives south of the Line! The greater part of this drive may be accomplished at the present time, but the roads around some of the outlying points are hardly suitable just yet for motoring, and that around Point Halswell is closed.

There will probably be few who will be able to visit all Wellington's bays. The yachtsman and the motor-boat enthusiast know them all, and they probably see the coastline to the best advantage, on account of their wider view from the water. Unfortunately, such aquatic facilities for surveying the indentations of our lengthy foreshore are available to the few. The visitor will therefore probably content himself with an inspection of some of the seaside resorts which are within easiest and most comfortable reach. If he could make a tour of the entire

series of bays in a day,, under the most favourable weather conditions, he would undoubtedly be charmed with the scenic beauties Wellington has to offer, and would wonder at the city's undeserved reputation for lack of attraction in natural scenery. A Fine Promenade. Wellingtonians have reason to be proud of the fine promenade which graces the nearest of their bays—Oriental Bay. This is artificial

BEAUTIES OF THE SEASHORE

beauty, and on a fine sunny day the foreshore below Roseneafch is seen at its best and afiords keenest satisfaction to the visitor. It is many years since the long retaining wall and promenade were commenced by the City Council, and what is to be seen of it at present is only a portion of the scheme the City Fathers have in' mind.. The wall is being extended past Point Jerningham, the land's end around which one turns into Evans Bay, and behind it the promenade is to be built up for the whole length of the foreshore to Kilbirnie.. In the early days of Wellington this favoured residential part of the city was generally referred to as "round the rocks"; Fitzgerald Point, the one-time sharp headland near the Boat Harbour and Te Aro Baths, made the bay on the northern side somewhat exclusive. The Boat Harbour, with dozens of yachts and-launches.riding at anchor within the sea wall erected for their-protection, is one of the first attractions for the visitior on the way around Oriental Bay. The Coast-line Bays. - Lyall Bay is the largest of the Wellington beaches. It is more than a mile in length, but not the full stretch of it is safe for bathing. On a rough day Lyallßay is a good example of the sterness- of Nature in her wilder mood. The big. breakers rolling in from Cook Strait are

,a striking spectacle, and-the vista is as fine in its grandeur as is obtainable on many of the more exposed ocean beaches along our coast. Haughton Bay, Island Bay, and Ohiro Bay, which lie in that order westward of Lyall Bay, constituting other points of outlook upon the Strait, are much smaller in sweep, and possess sandy beaches. Here is rough beauty again, three high headlands, springing from groups of scattering rocks, separating the bays. Island Bay is unique in appearance on account of the small cone which rises out of the water to give it its name. Approachable from Seatoun through a short cutting, Breaker Bay, eastward of Lyall Bay, and also opening on to the Strait, affords rugged beauty of a type not seen elsewhere so close to Wellington, unless one crosses to the .West Coast. At the present time this prettiest bay is more exclusive than the others on account of the somewhat circuitous route of access, but the visitor will be amply repaid for including it in his itinerary.

Another beautiful spot on the harbour shore is Lowry Bay, about half-way between Day's Bay and the Hutt Eiver. The low land on the

foreshore here is more extensive than at Eastbourne, and some splendid residences nestle \ between the promontories which shelter the waters.of the bay. This was one of the water- ; ing places of the sailing vessels which anchored. in the harbour in the early pioneering days; and the name of the chief mate of the ship Tory v&s applied to it by Colonel Wakefield. Across the harbour lie the popularr-and* populous—resorts of Day's Bay and Rona Bay.