AS OTHERS SEE US

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 52, 24 May 1927, Page 11

AS OTHERS SEE US

ENGLISH LADY’S VIEWS

ROUGH ROADS; WONDERFUL SCENES Florence A. Heath, an English motorist, recently 7 travelled through New 7 Zealand in a light car, and here are her impressions: "I have just completed a tour from Auckland to Wellington, about 600 miles. . . . The climate in New Zealand is very English. We were there at the commencement of their summer. The scenery 7 is magnificent. APPALLING ROADS “Near the towns the concrete roads are good, but appalling when one gets a little way out. "In parts a ploughed field w 7 ould be a billiard table in comparison. They are making a new road beyond Hamilton, I believe, for the visit of the Duke and Duchess. At the present time it is awful, owing to landslides, due to earthquakes and heavy floods. The roads are cut out of the side of a hill, showing a sheer drop on one side. "We did about 170 miles, reaching a show-place called Rotorua, full of boiling geysers and hot-mud pools. Two hundred miles on the rough roads here are more trying than 400 miles at home. You ride in a track and the ridge in the centre gets so high that if your clearance is not good it will pull you up. "If the English motor trade want to keep the market they will have to study conditions better. AN INTELLIGENT RACE “We had two nights at Whirakei, a delightful place full of surprises, with wonderful boiling gey 7 sers and famous waterfalls called the Huka Falls. The Maoris are a most intelligent race and quite well off, lots of them driving their own cars. After leaving Wairakei w 7 e went through some of the most wonderful scenery in the world; mile upon mile of magnificent mountainous country. “There is no railway between Rotorua and Napier, a distance of hearly 200 miles, but there is a most efficient car service, which runs daily. We did one climb 3,000 ft. above sea-level. There are very few notices in this country, but the A.A. are getting quite busy 7. There are miles of pumice roads, very dusty and rough, and we did 50 miles without seeing a house and meeting only a few cars. LITTLE TO TEACH US “After leaving Napier, a prosperous town, we had better roads for some 30 miles, but soon came back to earth with the old roads. The last 30 miles were most interesting, leading us through the Manawatu Gorge, a wonderful feat of engineering and a very good surface. We climbed 1,500 ft. in three miles. The little car pulled wonderfully. We had one puncture and a broken spring. It was the most thrilling ride I have ever done. “Competition is very keen, both in Australia and New Zealand. They have fine showrooms and good garages, and there is very little we can teach them so far as motoring is concerned.”