Hauraki and Its Farms and Hamlets

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 21, 16 April 1927, Page 8

Hauraki and Its Farms and Hamlets

SO THIS IS VENICE! Land of Vanished Swamp: i Appa'rently the circumstances v- f determine the location of towns onHauraki Plains are purely acciuM'; All the country is as flat a-* » and one spot seems as good M*• other. Generally a road interwo on the angle of a canal decides*** j the nucleus of a township shfci placed. At the hamlets scattered sffojf wide plains the Ministers of **”*7 Public Works, along with thei f have lately been callers. 1 sents novel features. It is 1 of the Hauraki Plains, and from f solitary street bridges span f water to give access to the f and houses which are » ul,t " deep channels draining the pastures. In this country the prevaiMi sion is made apparent by the !»•* of many sets of Rugby Occasionally a cross-bar Pj*** tween convenient cabbage frees » the purpose. Here the diffic • finding level football grounds » known, and the only trouble Jin winter the grounds are water. Some of the settlers gumboots almost all t * ie . I f ea 5 r ai: and in sections where the ar svstem is not yet fully effect- : idea of forming mounds wner . co\vs can lie when the 8* waterlogged has been seriously Strangely enough this in winter is often inundated, n k introduce water from outsiae | the summer, and a water S A? ject for the farms near the sw. m under the sunshine the c»y hard, and the wind is * fc; enough to drive windmills is undertaken at Waitakaruru. g .. Several big public works in progress on the j>lair»sterial party viewed the K P job, over the Waihou ’mi!- I Thames. To be nearlyhalf l a | completed length, the br !f* e a V : built on concrete piles. ing span to permit tne | small steamers plying to nt > roa and Te Aroha. A.t P g r | and other vehicles are «kill the Waihou on a ferry '-^. oUS pant navigators of the ponfle cites the admiration te& « the crossing is nevertheless process. , the I The drainage work o keeps large numbers jgver Near Puke the W a . i^'°b an - being deepened ana is a ion?the main highway V the crest of the let el i iNj e ids dated. Across the nai | canals are in the course while old ones are being & F the only part where drain* g B , tions are now in wes ter! ■ scale is Patetonga, on tne if; of the plains. Associat 9oefopment at Patetonga ■ pjferrtf jsfSVSS- SI I Kerepeehi was ap i® (t ff as 8 Piako swamp—possibly' _ it > .. 1 sea-girt islet W ' ho tel- i orned by a brand-new of electric street aero* 5 \ i settlement twinkle ■ country. |