PUKE TE WHIRIKI

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 514, 16 March 1920, Page 2

PUKE TE WHIRIKI

(The Mill that Rolls Down Litl! Stones.) By A.C.

'i'his is the interpretation thereof, of tho wonderful sandstone cliff, of three acres, which has been presented to the people of Pauakura by a gentleman who is leaving the district for a visit to England.

It forms a remarkable feature in the surrounding country, rising gradually till it ends abruptly about Si) feet above the road which win.b round the foot of it. There is a legend that the other half of the "pa'' is dnu'ii near Paei'at.i, between Drury and I'nkekohe.

Thf- side f:'i inn the north, is like a !nii;e un'duiiitinu' «•!;'••!\vo>n 1»\ tin' \\t ;i 1 lior and tlu* at|,»hoi*c in11> fount ifridees. crinkles. which continue rit;lit al< »nu' thf face ami ulifiv ::iiM>ntin<<us plants of srrey It alf d house li-fl;, \ itfd periwinkle, ''if wi'olly !<• if<'il mullein, and m. n a small (it; t ref. have taken 'i j ifv ai i-nl:. lot/, hold, and aiv dointf what I!:• •> i-an t<> beautify and soften the uhat sfvci'e apiu-aranee of 11;'•< nai'val fortress. The oiti '"|as it is cal'fd, ''as ■its h'storv hidden in the mis.t of -:tr> «:'ine liv. when the Maoris were at v, ar uith 11 iiiC's. 'll'fio is a dffj) tjpnch tlul> from dill' to clili", no iloidif whatever iVr defence pur- j poses. Que f.'in picture oneself the Maori uf.hines working feverishly vith thfcir primitive tools, dipping

<•:.t the soil for their trench, while s.mv.' i.kl ones carried away the soil in iheia flax kits, and threw it over the cliff. While thi- was being done. iv i d<<uit some keen-eyed scouts were <>n this highest points, watching for tlic ;ta>jcaching enemy. From this l •!■. i"wa:'ds the face of the cliff yvr oval hollows in the ground, : Ji ■- made by the same tribes . ■ in*- purpose of defence. On the -1..■ t!i .--ide, sheltered from the pre- \ i : ■ i;wind, is a beautiful bit of n.t ;\ c bush. with nno la ve and main' -li-inmed puriri trees the luture I vnic spot id many generations. The view from the ton of the pa is one of infinite variety and extreme beantv. ct 'iidinv from the hills beyond the Waikato River to Mount Eden and to the islands in the Waitemata Harbour. On one side are to be seen the wild uncultivated hills

I covered with ti-tree. where in years past giant kauris reared their stately forms. Only a few slender "rikas" remain in evidence of the forests that are gone forevc: - . Away on the skyline is a white clay road, used by the sturdy pioneers of Ilunua befovs~ the present well-graded and metall«d road was made through tthe beaA tiful gorge. As the eye travels round one sees Bombay, with her neat fields and hetig 's, the progressive town f f Pukekohe, nestling at the foot of its picturesque and fert'le hill; Karaka, with its rolling Ijintl ancf farms; Drury, lying its greenery, with its stream wirtßfing i'l and out gleaming like* aij silver thread till it reaches its goal; the Manukau Harbour; while justf'lfelow Papakui'a is seen with the tange of hills shutting out the Pacific, with the gloi niing' waters of the Manukau, \«. illl its many arms, lie just beyond. I,"t those who love the beauty of sea and sky climb to the top of this old ciiil and watch the uninterrupted view of a beautiful sunset and the panorama spread before them, and they will feel that they have been alone with nature, and that the cares of this rushing world have, for that short space, been laid aside*