MAORIS ASTOUNDED

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 4, 26 March 1927, Page 1

MAORIS ASTOUNDED

CAR AT SPIRITS BAY MAKING MOTOR HISTORY AUCKLANDERS’ UNIQUE TRIP Much to the amazement of North Cape Maoris, a motor-car made its appearance at Spirits Bay this week. Driven by two Aucklanders, a Baby Austin returned to this city yesterday, after making motor history in the Far North. Spirits Bay for centuries has been immortalised in Maori legend. Nearby is Cape Te Reinga, where old natives firmly believe the spirits of their ancestors wandered out into the Great Beyond, after climbing down a pohutukawa vine to the beach. Over the path of Ransi, the sun Rod. whose dying: rays at the close of day provided a golden trail across the sea. walked many a mighty toa who. for the last time, had wielded his mere in battle. Mangamuka Gorge. Mr. J. Seabrook was accompanied on this trip by his brother-in-law, Mr. C. H. Leighton. Their object was partly a holiday, and at the same time to carry out an endurance test for the Austin Baby Seven. The first day’s run landed the travellers in Whangarei. where the night was spent. The difficult Mangamuka Gorge was traversed en route to Kaitaia. Though mud was level with the running-hoards, the diminutive car struggled through without the assistance of chains. The scenery in the Victoria Valley, declares Mr. Seabrook. who knows his New Zealand very thoroughly, is indescribable. No motn-- 4 ’ old miss it. Indeed, he is very surprised to find that it is so little kno\am. “Magnificent! ” is his term for the valley, “and equal to anything in any part of the Dominion.” The second night was spent at Kaitaia. Te Paki station, a holding of 44,000 acres, was visited the following day. In order to reach this last outpost of New Zealand’s pastoral interests, the Aucklanders had to proceed via a creek bed. Likewise, under its own power, the little Austin wended its way along the famous Ninety Mile Beach. Recluse of Spirits Bay Another night was spent at Pandora, Spirits Bay, the home of Captain . Hector Macquarie, who has

settled in an ideal spot far from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Maoris are the writer’s only companions at this northern outpost, where no motor-car had ever honked its horn. The natives were requisitioned to make a road down into the bay in order that the Austin might achieve the object of its owner’s ambition and reach the most northern portion of the Dominion. “No heavy car could have possibly made the trip,” is the opinion of Mr. Leighton, who says that roads are absolutely unknown in this part of the country. The trip back to Kaitaia occupied a day. The travellers returned thence to Auckland via Waiwera. The whole trip, which Messrs. Seabrook and Leighton consider one of the most delightful they have experienced, took only six days.