A UCKLAND ’S HERITAGE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 2, 24 March 1927, Page 9 (Supplement)

A UCKLAND ’S HERITAGE

SUCKLAND has a grand heritage, for Nature was lavish in her gifts, and the fortunate dwellers of this remote post of Empire may well acclaim their dowry as something splendid. There is beauty all about them; in rheir island-studded gulf, their snug harbour with its picturesque shores, their many-bosomed city, and the range of high hills which backs that gorgeous panorama from the sea. Auckland is a rare pearl in a flawless setting, the pride of its proper people, the admiration of all visitors. There is no city it may not challenge for natural beauty, and it may be borne iu mind by its administrators that there is none so great in man’s improvement that it may not seek to •mulate.

Cradled by a noble stream and guarded by Jtangitoto, that uniquely noble sentinel of which you may hear men tell in every quarter of the globe, here is a city along whose waterways come the ships of all the nations, whose crews gaze with admiring envy at a scene which is ever in the eyes of those whose lot is happily here. It is well that Aucklanders should not be indifferent to their fortune, but should appreciate the glowing tributes of those who come but to depart, and appreciate even more the heritage that compels such tribute. Look upon the glory of bay and bight, of river and trickling stream, of ferny dale and tree-clad hill, of sloping shores and gleaming sands, waters of the Waitemata, sparkling in their placidity or snow-crested in the breeze as the white sails of innumerable yachts flit upon its surface. Stand upon one of the many eminences and gaze at the panorama of sea and hill and sky around, and the lusty young city spreading beneath, and who will deny that here is a proud heritage, and one worthy of love and service? From the lordly approach up Haiiraki Gulf, with Its green isles and the beaches and noble headlands stretching on either hand, fencing the forest from the sea, up to the harbour entrance between sky-reaching Rangitoto and the picturesque contour of North Head, with Mount Victoria as a set-off, right up the higher reaches and around to the secluded beauty of Point Chevalier, is a stretch of marine beauty in its way unrivalled. Devonport, Narrow Neck, Takapuna, Milford, Brown’s Bay, Murray’s Bay on the one hand; St. Heliers, Kohimarama, Orakei on the other, each a gem, all combining to the splendour of the sum effect. Here upon the beaches may young Auckland wander, “nourishing a youth sublime” — and a youth that may be age-long, for who could grow old in spirit who would bathe in the beauty of these scenes with a real sense of appreciation? The dwellers on the long plains, those who live in the dull isolation of the backblocks, because their lot is less fortunately cast, what would they not give to abide in places of such beauty as that which Aucklanders so complacently accept as a heritage? There is not about Auckland the bogey of trespass which afflicts some older countries, and which prohibits the people from vast areas reserved for the guns and the rods of the rich. Due to the far-sightedness of successive civic administrators, and the public-spir-Hedness of several notable • citizens, Auckland has reserved as parks for the people an area of no less than 8,000 acres. These fine reserves. are, happily, not confined to the city boundaries, but are extended over the area of the future Greater Auckland. Chief among these “lungs” of Auckland are the Albert Park, of 14 acres, right in the heart of the city; the Domain, of 194

Natures Lavish Dowry

acres; Victoria Park, of 18 acres; Myers Park, above the Town Hall; Point Erin Pa.rk and Parnell Park, on the shores of the harbour; Grey Lynn Park, of 30 acres; Western Park, Ponsonby; Bayfield Park, Herne Bay; the great Cornwall Park, of 230 acres; the Cox’s Creek Reserve, of 9 acres; the Parnell Domain, of 11 acres: the unt Hobson Reserve, of 9 acres; the Epsom Domain, of 19 acres; the Waiatarua Park, of 156 acres; and Titirangi Park, Piha Domain, Kaitarakihi Park, Cornwallis Park and Nihotupu Domain, to the west of the city.

The undulating character of the country all around the city furnishes endless scenes of beauty and interest, scenes in such profusion that there is endless contrast. Across the harbour, from Bayswater or Devonport, past the Takapuna Lake and over the high hills of Milford, with the gulf and the many pictur esque bays down to the right, and the mountain ranges to the left, on to lovely Orewa and colourful Waiwera, one may feast on the beauties of Nature every yard of the way. To the south, through the soothing greenery of Green Lane, past pleasant Ellerslie, sleepy Otahuhu and back to the city, via Mangere and Onehunga, there is a rural prospect which is delightfully refreshing. Or one may go out through pleasant farm lands with their trim hedges to Buckland’s Beach and see there the blending of hill, beach and sea. Or he may travel out through the western suburbs, with their hills and orchards, to the ranges, and beyond to the West Coast, where the ocean comes thundering on to the long white beaches. Everywhere are to be found scenic splendours at the very gateways of the city. There is a charm about Auckland that is constant, yet ever-changing—constant in its appeal, ever-varying in its beauty. He who dwells in this city of the sea and hills dwells in a scene set for princes. Let him pay it the homage due to R-oyalty!

As an example of bow original beauty may be retained and yet made serve the full use of man, Auckland may justly point to its many parks and gardens. How noble an area is the Domain, with its miles of road, oath and lawn, its little rustic bridges, its onds, terraces, hot-houses and garden plots, yet with great areas of the native bush preserved! How beautiful that rise in the heart of the city, Albert Park, where statues, fountains, paths, flowerbeds and native and exotic trees have been so arranged as to make it a garden without compare! And what has been done here has been achieved with equal or near success in most of the other areas pres'—ved for the public, reserves which are all the more grateful and more delightful because of the contrast of great piles of buildings in close proximity. The plenitude of these retreats is one of the most pleasant attributes of a pleasant city. It is not a far fling to twenty years ago. Yet what wonders have been accomplished in improving Auckland. Twenty years ago the present handsome Queen’s Wharf, built of steel and concrete, was a jumble of old piles, rotten decking and tumble-down sh°ds, and the building in concrete of the great King’s Wharf had hardiy commenced, while probably there had been no thought given to so gigantic a future structure as the Prince’s Wharf—the greatest of them all and one of the finest wharves in all the world. There was no Quay Street East, lined with great buildings and crowded with the traffic of swell!" commerce; dingy old locomotive sheds blocked its way. To the west of the old Auckland Dock ram-