MERCURY BAY.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4931, 27 January 1926, Page 3

MERCURY BAY.

A GRAND SUMMER RESORT.

ATTRACTIONS FOR VISITORS.

The local residents who have now returned to Paeroa after holidays spent at Whitianga, or Mercury Bay as- it is perhaps better known, are loud in .their praise of the attractions of that summer resort. Buffalo Beach, so called because in 1840 the British store ship Buffalo went ashore there after striking Pandora rock, eight feet below low water spring .tide, is over two miles long, and is a particularly safe beach for bathing. Among other interesting a,ss,aviations with the early days may be mentioned Shakespeare’s Cliff, on which stands a trig station, believed to be the exact spot where Captain Cook made his observations of "the transit of Mercury. On either side of Shakespeare’s’ Cliff are delightful bays, ideal for picnicking, and. many pleasa|nt days, may be spent exploring the various detached benches round the shores of the bay, each with its own charm, some being sandy, some composed wholly of tiny fragments of shell worn smooth, some abounding in rare and beautiful shells,. To the angler Mercury! Bay is particularly .attractive, for a wonderful variety' of fish may be obtained there in abundance, including crayfish and flounder. From the wharves, and even from the beaches, schnapperLand kahawai may be caught freely, while from a dinghy bigger catches are made, including terakihi, a ( nd even barracouta. For real sport, however, one has only to make the acquaintance of Mr E. Chadban, the genial host of the local hotel and Chairman of the Swordfish and Mako Shark Club, to be assured of a good time. “Chad,” as he is known to his friends, had had .experience with the big fish at Mayor Inlands, as well, as off the Mercuries, and is well acquainted with the haunts' and. habits of the marlin or swordfish and the mako, and to be one of his party on the “All Black” or “Dolly D.” o.ut after “big stuff” off the Red Mercury is to the novice a never-to-be-forgotten day of interest and pleasure. Chad knows all the many hapuka- grounds that exist in the locality, a.nd when he anchor the launch one may be assured of a good catch. There is little doubt that .When the road now being constructed from Tapu to Coroglen is completed Mercury Bay will have many visitors from these parts, for it will then be no farther away than Coromandel, and its scenic apd other will make it a very popular summer resort.