Rangitoto—lsle of Many Charms

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 62, 4 June 1927, Page 11

Rangitoto—lsle of Many Charms

WONDERFUL ASSET IMPROVEMENTS PLANNED Rangitoto—island of a thousand charms—is perhaps the most beautiful domain in New Zealand. When it lies sun-bathed on the blue harbour waters as it did yesterday, where is there an island to equal it? Sold to the New Zealand Government for £ls by the Maoris, it has proved a wonderful asset to the Dominion, and particularly to Auckland. VERY year the army of holiday visitors grows larger and larger. Last Labour Day 2.700 people visited this triple-coned volcanic sentinel of the Waitemata. Rangitoto is controlled by a Domain Board which is made up of the members of the Devonport Borough Council. Yesterday the members of the board visited the territory under their control to view the extensive programme of improvements now under way, and to make plans for the next 12 months. A splendid causeway circling out to the beacon and rising in a broad sweep to the summit is being constructed. It will ultimately continue down to Islington Bay and, curving round the south end of- the island, will wheel back to the wharf; a total distance of 14 miles. Abundance of rock exists for the work and labour is supplied by the Prisons Department; the Domain Board finding the stores, explosives, waggons and the comfortable portable hutments which constitute the prison camp. Twelve men are employed on this compulsory benefit scheme for their fellow men, and in IS months have remodelled the approach to the w'harf and formed 2£ miles of the road, which has been hewed out of the lava. This will have it ready for next summer’s traffic. CHARMING VIEWS This portion of the route runs parallel to Cheltenham Beach and the dainty seascapes, the views of the ruggfed cone-on-a-cone glimpsed through over-arching pohutukawa, the barren lava ridges untamed by the storms of unending centuries, the tiny valleys lined with moss and kidney ferns, with here and there a defiant tutu springing from a cleft in a giant boulder; these and a hundred other charms will captivate the visitor. Of the 2J miles of formed road (based on solid rock which would delight any engineer and still the doubts of our old newspaper friend (Pro Bono Publico), a little over half has been blinded. The camp that has been so conspicuous near the wharf is now to be moved nearer the beacon as the 50 minutes’ walk out to the job cuts in on the labour time. The Domain Board is contemplating the supply of a motor-lorry to transport men and gear to the working face. The fine walled fillings that carry the road over numerous gullies are a credit to the department and will be much admired by road-makers who may later visit the works. In one place a big lagoon is cut off from the sea and will be a magnificent bathing pool. Along this road of a hundred charms sections will .be available for shack builders. A few yards down the rocks and the tasty schnapper may be caught for breakfast. ZIGZAG PATHWAYS The Domain Board has a quarry near the beacon from which stone is being lifted to build the sea wall along Queen’s Parade, Devonport. The work is carried out so that no scar will mar the island’s front. A visit was paid Islington Bay, it used to be Drunken Bay, with its extensive quarry works controlled by the Auckland Harbour Board and the adjacent workers' settlement and school. Further along is the ‘‘shack settlement” of the boat owners who have their own wharf and cosy homes. It is proposed to extend the zigzag pathways of shelled rock for 10 chains to provide sections for waiting applicants who want to build shacks. Two years ago the board had accumulated £BOO, made up from the rent of sites for campers and Id a ticket donated by the Ferry Company. This has been spent in equipping the prison gang, and the board now has to finance the completion of the 14 miles of roadway. A shelter at the water tank near the summit is also needed. It is proposed to film the island and try to raise revenue as well as attract many more tourists. At the wharf a ramparted causeway bends in a big S to the playing flat and is a decided improvement. When Toi Kai Rakau came here in 1150 A.D. Rangitoto was the bird preserve of old Paretu, who lived at Narrow Neck. In 1894 the island wa3 declared a domain and put under the control of Devonport. Its name means sky-blood, from the colour of the lava near the top. The three peaks visible from the city personify old Mata-aho, his wife and maid, petrified there for impious reference to the Goddess of Fire, who was Mata’s ancestress.