PARAKAI THE BEAUTIFUL.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 6 November 1919, Page 3

PARAKAI THE BEAUTIFUL.

[By "Wayfarer."]

In the early dawn of an October morning I want to take you with me to Parakai, where lieth the Helensville Hot Springs. The grandeur of the situation is unsurpassed in the Auckland province, the surroundings themselves being sufficient to help anyone in search of health ; the green fields supplied with nature's richest verdure, the home of lowing cattle ; the wild flowers ; the singing of the lark with all its comrades in song —make a setting grand in itself. But I leave Parakai Hou?e and cross the road to enter the Hot' Springs reserve. Here I am arrested afresh with Nature under a new mantle: shrubs trimmed and pleasant to the .eyp, flowers fresh and bonnie, and the greens looking tb.Bir best, having been clipped as neat as a champion Clysdale fcr a Grand Parade. We wander across the gre&D. through the scented flowers around the bathhouse building, and here we discover the main source of this mysterious hot water that gives health and life to so many sufferers. It seems restless and anxious to serve humanity; so much so, that it is pressing upward in several directions at one and the same time, in case it should be overlooked by those whose \ vision is not clear. It ! catches the ear in its incessant gurgle, anxious to get free. To I those of clear vision, it can be seen afar off raising its peculiar voice even to the heavens in the form of steam ; and how mysteriously has the Grand Creator provided the means. Even the temperature of these waters for the use of mankind is right, for it is. seldom necessary, except in the early morning, to add cold water to enable one to have the fullest benefit that can be derived from these finely situated baths. The only thing that astonishes me is the small number who take advantage of this great privilege. The cause can be traced to the fact that 50,000 people in and around Auckland do not know that the Helensville Hot Springs exist. I finish my remarks with the following lines ;— We ]ove the hills above the HIT The bonnie braes aneth the cliff, The winding stream, the hillside burn, Oh ! Nature grand at every turn. But come with me around the gre,en, Where spreading trees and flowers are seen ; Hark ! listen ! gurgling sounds below ; There's something there we'll never know