SUPER-MARE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 16, 2 January 1912, Page 3

SUPER-MARE.

WHERE CAN ONE PROPERLY SEE THE SEA. WHY NOT OPUNAKE ? (By Will Desmond.) Next to rove—of whicli all poets seem to have had large and pleasant experience—there is hardly a subject upon winch poets will allow themselves the privilege of going mad to such an extent as the sea. Every poet who is a poet has something to say about the sea, and every person who is desirous of being considered a poet makes an endeavour to delude people that he is a poet by inflicting wishywashy pourility regarding “the boundless ocean” on, taking it full and by, a patient public, though said public, as regards verse, is not always too discriminating. For which indulgence of providence let all smallfry versifiers be well and truly thankful. There is a truly wide range in ocean verse. There is the following verse:—

I’he ocean’s frothy, blue and large— Much larger far than I; L know it’s frothy, blue and large. And often wonder why.

And there is the following verse from Byron’s “Don Juan” :

The armaments which thunderstrike the walls Of rock-built cities, bidding nations quake And monarchs tremble in their capitals, The oak leviathans, whose huge ribs ma ke Their clay creator the vain title take Of lord of thee and arbiter of war— These are thy toys, and, as the snowy flake, They melt into thy yeast of Waves, which mar Alike th’ Armada’s pride, or spools of Trafalgar.

Byron is good evidence for the plaintill' in the present case, for further on in the passage mentioned ho remarks :

And I have loved thee, Ocean! and my joy Of youthful sports was on thy breast to be Borne like thy bubbles, onward; from a boy I wantoned with thy breakers—they to me Were a delight and if the freshening sea Made them a terror—’twas a pleasing fear, For I was as it were a child of time, And trusted to thy billows Inland near, And laid my hand upon thy mane—as I do hero.

Ami that in this passage Byron di 1 not go mad to eider or without ki;mveldgo of ids subject can !kj taken for granted from the fact that at some time or other Jre swam across the Hellesprontj across which Leander of old swam, though in the case of Byron the existence of a Jovnj-eved iHero did hot enter into the case. But “that’s; enough of that,” as. Bill said to . Jack. | Pulling in Byroiij' by the skin of lug whiskers to give 'i van-i co in tiro matter was only to break the ice; and if two!Byronic Aleiiaadrines will .not break the dee, the dee is unbreakable, or might better be left unbroken. Talking having become tiresome, let something he said. “Although you’d ne’er imagine it,” as W. S. Gilbert made somebody say, this tale is wholly and entirely regarding Opunake, or rather, is a discussion on the' question’ “Where shall I go to get bathed?” If the poets -have a lot to say about their longings for the sea,-it 1 "’ig ( undeniable, also, that every living soul experiences longings for the 'sea, their method of expressing such longings extending from the ultra-prosaic to the Byronic; but the' longing is universal and insistent. Unfortunately not all of us can live by the sea or reasonably near it, and in most cases we have to be content with a somewhat tedious yearly journey down to the sea. Hero in Taranaki there are large numbers of people who must yearly long for the sea, and for “The silence full of sound Which reigns beside the ocean.” Where are these people to ease the pain of longing? Echo, which is always lying around handy on such occasions, answers, and it "seems always to be ready with the correct answer, “Opunake!” Why Opunake?—About a year ago Mr. Jackson, of Opunake, sowed the seeds of the Opunake Seaside Improvement Society, being ably backed up by Messrs. Knell, D. IVlcGregor, Crockett, Warner, Thompson, M. J. Brennan, C. Sorensen, C. Malcolm, and the Rev. Klingender. The gentlemen named formed the first eammittoe, and from the smallest of beginnings the society has now a membership of between forty and fifty—all people who will do their very best for the beach. Since the society has been in existence a tea kiosk, a I.idles’ dressing shed, and conveniences have boon erected, and a pipe mil has been run down the path to the beach. But, “so much to do, so little done,” the society is by no means finished, and recently the following circular was forwarded to members:—

Opunake Seaside Improvement Society.—Dear Sir, —The excellent movement inaugurated a little more than a year ago under the above heading, prompts me to address you thus: It affords me the greatest pleasure to he in a position to state that the committee has, during the term, effected substantial improvements on the Opunake Beach; in character, both useful and picturesque, thereby materially adding to the pleasure and comfort of the numerous visitors who frequent this already well-known seaside resort. As you name appears on the list of contributors, I now wish on behalf of the society to thank you for the assistance rendered. You are already aware that a fete under the auspices of the society was held early in the year, and proved to be an unqualified success. It having been decided that the event should be held annually, I am pleased to be able to notify you that the next fete will bo held some time in February, the date to be decided on at a meeting of numbers to bo held in the Foresters’ Hall, on Friday, sth January, 1912, at which your presence is requested. The question of numerous improvements lias yet to be considered, and I will here enumerate a few of them, —viz.:

Erection of Bathing Shed for Children Connecting water service to Kiosk. Fresh water shower baths in eacli of the bathing sheds. Tree-planting on an extensive scale. Drainage of swamp. Erection of scats and other absolutely necessary general improvements. At a first glance the scheme appears formidable, but, I am sanguine it can, bv degrees, bo successfully surmounted. With this end in view, may

1 again solicit your valuable assistance by asking your co-operation and renewal of membership.—Yours faithfully, W. J. Knell, President. In this little programme there is certainly some work forecasted, and when it is compiled, as there can be no doubt it soon will be, there should be no watering place in the Dominion to “shake the stake” at Opunake. And the society is not afraid of big things. They even speak of making a pond in what is at present swamp, and running • a punt-chute down to it from the cliffs above.

As to Opunake itself: The best means of reaching it is by taking coach to Kaponga, staying at Kaponga that evening, catching the El-tham-Qpunake coach after an early breakfast, and reaching Opunake in time for an early lunch. (On the return one goes to Eltham by coach and home by rail). Opunake is a small town, but for its size the streets are well kept, though a great many are in the grass stage, which, however, is no disadvantage when one is in search of peace, quietness, rest and change. On these roads also the harmless and necessary cow, if she be properly registered, and duly collared, may roam at large and save the Town Board the cost of mowing the grass. If a man were to strike Opunake afer a leng sojourn on a desert island he ought think it pretty or attractive, but otherwise he woidd find it .hllicult with a good conscience so to do. But it is not with the town itself that the traveller looking to find relaxation lying about in large lumps has to deal. It ns with the beach. Turning from the main street, one sees the sea; and if he turn down the side street when the summer sun is setting in a clump of clouds he will recognise that beauty is not all dead—that the art of Nature can and will (willy nilly) still appeal to humanity. A short walk brings one to the top of the cliffs near the northern extremity of the horseslu'B bay, and 1 ere one sees the breakers rolling in on the beach and being torn into fleecy shreds on the two rocky points of the bay. Two paths lead down the cliffs to the beach, one long and gradually sloping for the elderly and sedate, one short and sharply sloping for the young and exuberant. The wind it windeth every day (or nearly), but on the beach the majority of winds are not felt, and here one may bask in the sun.or promenade to the heart’s content. Excellent dressing sheds are provided, and the deiights of surf-bathing are open to all; and as to what those delights are one may refer to the evidence hereinbefore tendered by Byron. The delights of the surf-bathe and the sun bath need no writing about. As the testimonial in the advertisement reads: “Ten years ago I had a surfbath : since then I have had no other.” And if one is merely looking to find relaxation lying about in large lumps there are pretty little spots along the coast which can be visited with profit. Notably there is the Waiaua River, at the mouth of which the big-hearted Opunake people hope one of these times to have a thoroughly safe and good iiarbour for ships. Which reminds one that there is a jetty at the north end of the bay, from which the devotee of Izaak Walton can catch > sprats, sclmapper, sharks, and sunburn. “Well,” say you, having got so far, “what is the sense, of this skite, what is the, wherefore of this wind,' what is the moral of this mouthy maunder?” The moral is this: That people throughout Taranaki should seriously consider whether it is not worth while to visit Opunake for a longer or shorter term to test its health-giving properties, and indirectly to give the Seaside Improvement Society heart to continue in its good work. If the good qualities of the resort were well enough known there can bo no doubt that in a short time it would become highly- popular. Therefore, those whose duties ard not too insistent should make a pojut ,of visiting the town and of building up their wasted nerve tissue within the sound and the smell of the sea.