CHRISTMAS JAUNTS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1489, 23 December 1915, Page 3

CHRISTMAS JAUNTS.

WHERE THE IRON HORSE RUNS. HOLIDAY RESTING PLACES. Christmas day is this week. So distracting are the events which have marked the current year that Christmas time has stolen almost unawares on most people. Amidst the clamour of a war more terrible than anyone ever imagined, and with other nations tottering on the brink'of the awful vortex, Christmas has come along on rubber heels, and with a loud “Boo! has surprised us into the knowledged that another year has gone —a sad, sad year for many. But hope springs eternal in the human breast. There must be no downheartedness, we must keep cheerful and bright, and must keep melancholy at bay. It has been a strenuous, anxious year, and most people will be unusually ready tor that period of general relaxation that comes with Christmas and New Year. Jaded bodies and troubled heads must have a rest —■ a holiday. It is not an indulgence, but a necessity and a right. Many people who would otherwise have tripped abroad have been detained in New Zealand because of the conditions outside, which make it (New Zealand) a particularly happy spot. This fact, together with the passport hurdle, will confine the average person who travels at Christmas time to his own country. It Is fortunate, indeed, that within the confines of New Zealand there is so much to see that is either inspiringly grand or wierdly interesting, or both. Every view from a railway carriage in New Zealand has its own particular charm. Take the through trip to Auckland—there is no railway trip to compare with the wide diversity of scenery to be taken in on the run through the North Island, yet there are many people who have not seen stately Tongariro and the giant Ngauruhoe rising majestically from the Waimarino Plains, or who have taken in the changing vistas on the “spiral.” From the National Park, the trains run through the famous King Country, and thence on through the fat acres of the Waikato to the jewel of the north, Auckland. From that port delightful excursions may be taken to picturesque Kawau, the Great Barrier, Mongonui, and that paradise on earth —the Bay of Islands —the lotus land of New Zealand.

THE LURE OF ROTORUA

But there are side attractions on this line that cannot be passed over in an article ot this description. There is Rotorua always beckoning. To those who have once tasted its sweets, Rotorua is always a-calling. Its charms are as insidious as those of the East, and are infinitely cleaner. There are those in Foxtou yet who do not know that they can leave Foxton at 3.10 p.m. and be in Rotorua for evening dinner the next day, and within twenty-four hours may have sampled the refreshing qualities of half the liferestoring baths in this unique sanltorium. The train which leaves Wellington at 9. to p.m. for Auckland arrives at Frankton at noon the next day, and shortly after 1, p.m. along buzzes the Rotorua-bound train from Auckland, which lands the passenger in the hot lake centre at 5.22 p.m., in ample time to take a quiet swim in the revivifying Blue Bath before dinner. WHERE THE GLOW WORMS GLOW. Waitomo, the mysterious subterranean wonderland, is also a siding on the Main Trunk line. If the visitors wish to explore the cool, jewelled caves, round which so many legends have been spun, they should travel by the train which leaves Wellington for the north at 9,10 p.m., which will drop them at Hangatiki at 10,30 o’clock the next morning, ' Coaches meet every train, and a first-class accommodation house (run by the Government) will be found to give all satisfaction. The small charge of £1 per head covers all charges at the caves—coach fares, guides, hotel charges, etc. IN SEARCH OF SUNSHINE. Napier is a pleasant short day’s journey from Foxton, and then the Pacific opens out grandly from the sweeping Marine Parade. There at Christmas time the place - is to take on a carnival air, and there will be entertainment of a merry and bright character by day' and night as long as the Ma.rdi Gras lasts. Should one aspire to the heights, there is always the pleasant trip to Mount Egmont, New Zealand’s most perfect peak, to consider. The climbing of this mountain (S.ooolt. in height) is comparatively an easy matter now-a-days, and annually the trip is becoming more and more popular. Rather further off the beaten track are Mounts Tongariro, Ruapehu, and Ngaruahoe—the three tall sisters which mark the centre of the North Island. DOWN THE WANGANUI. To those who can only spend a few days on holiday, there is the trip to Taumaranui and down homeward via the Wanganui river. The best way to do this trip is to travel by the train which leaves Wellington at i.ro p.m., arriving at Taumarunui at midnight. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays the river boats leave Taumarunui at 6.45 a.tn., arriving at Pipiriki the same afternoon, where they tie up for the night to allow the passengers a chance of getting a good night’s ; rest at the accommodation house

there. An early start is made the next morning, the boats arriving at Aramoho in time to catch the raid-day train to Wellington. If the up trip is preferred, the train which leaves Wellington at 8.20 a.m. must be caught at Palmerston. That arrives at Wanganui at 3 20 p.ra., and the boat leaves early the next morning (on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays) for Taumarunui, on which trip a night is spent on the house-boat. IN THE SOUTH. There is uo lack of attractions reachable by train or coach or motor in the south. The growing popularity of Mount Cook will not suffer this year. There are already indications that the Christmas and New Year holidays will see the Mount Cook road a pretty active thoroughfare. And who is there that has once done the glaciers of that district can resist the lure of the ice ? Travelling is made easy for the public in these latter days. From Lyttelton to (Queenstown and back may be covered at a cost of £2 13s 3d second class, and £3 193 8d first, and all tickets may he obtained at the Railway Department’s bureau iu Willis Street (opposite Stewart Dawson’s), Wellington. Another very fine excursion is the one to Milford Sound — from Lyttelton by train to Lumsden, motor to Lake Te Anau, steamer to the head of the lake, and per foot to Milford Sound — onejof the finest walks in the world. Hanmer is within handy reach of Christchurch by train and motor, and its baths are famous throughout the Dominion. The Railway Department is issuing excursion lares over all lines as from December 17, and is uovv doing a lively business iu monthly tickets, for each Inland, or for both, extending over a period of seven weeks. All information can be obtained at the railway bureau, Willis Street, Wellington, where sleepers may be booked and seats reserved (for all who are journeying a hundred miles or more). , From-the foregoing outline of only a few of the places that are within easy reach of Wellington either by railway train, or boat and train, it will be realised that it is no hardship for New Zealanders to be confined to their country during the holiday season now upon us.