AN EASTER TRIP.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 832, 28 April 1910, Page 3

AN EASTER TRIP.

[By Our Own Correspondent ]

In my last effusion I took my readers as far as the wonderful Waimanga valley, which is included in the lamous round trip. Nearby the Government accommodation house is a green lake, where, prior to the eruption ol 1886, was a swamp. On the [ surface of the coloured water wild ducklings appeared to be quite at home. The guide, a ruddy-faced, genial fellow, was brimful of information. One could learn more from him in an hour on the subject of geology, mineralogy, volcanoes, geysers, and blue-blooded snobs than months of reading in textbooks. We were shown the locality where Joe Warbrick, the Misses Nichols (2) and Mr McNaughton lost their lives through a sudden upheaval of the treacherous Waimangu, that occurred in 1903. Waimanga has not played for several years, hut his throats are plainly discernible, and around the basin steam issues from innumerable fissures. Passing along a rugged track from Waimanga the shores of Take kotomahana are reached. This journey is done on foot. A launch awaits tourists. The sights in Rotomahaua are very wonderful. The launch travels through boiling water for a time, and then into cold water. The Donne cliffs, where steam issues and rises to the sky, are soon left behind. The localities of the once famous pink and white terraces are pointed out by the guide. We were informed that these once glittering crystal staircases or terraces may yet be recovered, as the opinion is held by some that they were only submerged and not destroyed. Wild ducks skim over the lake, and watch for morsels thrown overboard from the launch. Our guide was a very intelligent Maori named Riri Potaka, and it was not long before we struck up a very interesting korero. He had heard a good deal about the tribes living in the Manawatu, and his wife had relations at Otaki. He said , he looked forward with pleasure to a visit to these parts. From the landing place across the lake we had to walk about a mile to Te Ariki, wnere another launch was in waiting to convey us across Take Tarawera to Wairoa. On this walk, principally over a cinder bed, Tarawera is passed. This is the mountain which threw out mud and lava in 1886, which killed so many people. It stands grey and desolate, towering up 3,500 feet. There is now no sign of activity, but the eruption fairly tore the mountain asunder, one crater being about half a mile 1 wide. At Te Ariki about sixty or seventy Maoris were killed, and to the left, Moura, about forty lost 1 their lives. Riri mournfully records these facts as he points out the localities. A journey of eight miles across the surface of this beautiful lake brings us to Wairoa. Near the landing stage, and commanding a fine view of the lake, nestles guide Warbrick’s cottage. There is much to interest the traveller at Wairoa, the buried Maori village. (To be Continued.)