DISTRESSING WHAM

Hokitika Guardian, 23 November 1929, Page 6

DISTRESSING WHAM

SADDENING EFFECT OF MODEL PA.

GREAT SHOW PLACE WITHOUT A

PRODUCER

ROTORUA, November 18. After visiting Whakarewarewa after an absence of some years one has to confess that the place—whilst ‘ being one of the most remarkable outcrops of thermal activity in the world—is fearfully depressing in the manner in which its wonders are presented. There is something wrong with the management of the place when a visit such as mine conveys a feeling of depression, and, in a measure, disappointment 011 account of the state or things that engenders that depression. And it could easily he all so different. Rotorua should not be permitted to Iforget that without its Whaka, its rlikitiri, Fairy Springs, Hamurana, etc., it would still he a little hamlet by the lake. That air of neglect, that facility for allowing things to remain exactly as they were twenty years ago, lias a very definite effect on the impressions of every visitor.

A POOR INTRODUCTION. Whaka is always one of the first places visited because it is the nearest to the town and is one of the most extensive fields of thermal activity in New Zealand. To approach the place one has to pass over a poor sort of wooden bridge that spans a muddy stream, and immediately that point ,is reached the Alaori hoys and girls begin to ply their trade—pennies for them to dive for. In former years the small boys and girls used to dive off the bridge, which was quite a height, hut now they wait expectant on either side of the stream, in the water up to their middles, begging dor the visitors to shower coppers into the stream. Let that pass. That may not be in the least depressing to some people as an introduction to the native of the soil. Then one has to pass through the Native village inhabited by the Whaka Maoris. They do not live as their forefathers did. They inhabit wretched little old unpainted palceha cottages, some of them with rotten hoards and shaky verandahs, altogether unpicturesque and giving out (however falsely) an air of abject poverty.

;There is no order in the manner in which these little cottages are built possibly owing to The . thermal erosion that is going on all round ; there are no fences, no attempt at making the places neat or decorative with hits of gardens (though perhaps that may he due to the nature of the ground). The whole aspect of the approach,through a cluster of decaying shacks, past old steamy holes half filled with rubbish, past an ancient motor-car (long since shorn of its essentials to speed), past some ( concrete-capped graves, to the entrance of the Government reserve of Whaka, where a man shows you photographs of people you have no interest in at all, with the object of adding you and your friends to his gallery at a price, is depressing.

* AN AMAZING AREA. The reserve proper is as wonderful as ever. That is to say, the geysers and mud springs are still at it. Old Poliutu plays fairly regularly, and Papakura, down under the model pa, was extremely violent whilst the writer was there and was much photographed by the dozen or so tourists present. But nothing has been done to improve the pro cincts; that is to say, Whaka is still an unimproved Whaka. Some may agree that tliis ainardiig thermal area is best left to itself, but with the evidence of the wild growth That exists here and there 1 am sure certain shrubs and flowering plants could lie introduced to brighten the rather barren prospect. I he air of neglect here is generated by the signs “dangerous” which either lie on the ground or at any old angle other than the vertical, and in the old wood-stave pipes, used for drainage purposes at some remote period, but which at present are either choked with dirt, or lie about on the surface in utter disuse. The little bridges could be made more picturesque, and the introduction of a couple of dozen garden seats Mould afford resting places for those waiting thermal display.

MODEL PA PROCESS OF DECAY. But where the greatest mistake has been made is in allowing the model pa to go to wreck and ruin. The idea of having a model pa, brought about when Sir .Tospeli Ward was Minister of Tourist Resorts, was quite a good one, as it gave at a glance the standard form off the pa, and bore testimony to the logic of the native mind as applied to matters of defence mid illustrated very 'veil indeed the domestic lay-out. But alas, ti.e natives could not be persuaded lo m e 111 tiie pa. it was too lar away iioiii tneir cuoiung doles and washing

pools —ion niniiites walk away—down near the entrance to Whaka. So the iern-trunk houses are falling to decay Uie floors of the look-out towers no longer aJFord safe foothold for the look out men ; the roots of the houses 110 longer resist the rain. All is decay. The pity of it! The ideal thing, of course, would be to have the natives inhabit the pa- in native state; but even if that cannot he brought about, there might fie a working bee organised every three months or so to keep the model village in some sort of order, as it is certainly of interest to all visitors, however, ordinary to the local native. AVhat Wlia r

lea wants is a supervisor with tile ability of a theatrical producer.

A SURPRISE

Probably the most surprising item of news from outside received during tlie last lew days was the vote of £IU, UUO for the laupo-Kotorua road, 'this road is really a very good one, but, like all pumice roads, it is liable to break up either in very wet or very dry weather but compared with the Taupo Plains road it is heaven to the motorist. Why such a large amount should be allocated lor the Taupo-Rotorua road caused considerable surprise even to local people. One civil engineer who was consulted by the writer said that it could be kept in very good order by the employment olf a couple of motor-graders. When I went over the road it was infinitely to be preferred to the Taita Gorge road in Wellington and, save for a patch of pot-holes here and there, a speed of 35 miles an hour could be maintained without risk.