HOT LAKES SYNDICATE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 170, 17 January 1912, Page 6

HOT LAKES SYNDICATE.

WHY "WONDERLAND" DOESN'T PAY." "I notice by the papers that the Hon. Mr. Mackenzie has 'been stating that the tourist traffic does not pay," said Mr. A. W. Hogg to a Wairarapa Times reporter recently in the course of an interview, "and I don't wonder at it not paying. Why, the whole of the traffic in the Rotorua district is being carried on by an Auckland syndicate. Rotorua is entirely in their hands—they have control of all the stores, places of resort, etc. Even tke most popular bath at the Wonderland, Wakarewarewa, has been leased to this syndicate. "From Rotorua to the Taupo Lake—the latter, by the way, being twenty mile 9 long and being equally broad—the distance is fifty miles. The journey is broken by an accommodation kome at Waiotapu, which is also in the hands of the same syndicate.

"There is a Wonderland at Taupo about as interesting as the one at Rotorua. The country at the foot of the hill in front of the accommodation house looks as white as a snow field, the surface being nothing but silica. A large area is corrugated with huge chasms, some of them over 30ft in depth and big enough to bury a two-storied building in. There are also springs and geysers of, boiling water and thermal springs belchi*g out sulphurous vapors surrounded by beautiful crystals. The residents have conferred on various places distinctive names such as the 'punch bowl,' the 'champagne bowl,' and so on. There are hot pools full of sulphur and mineral water admirably adapted for bathing. This property is in the hands of the same syndicate.

"The accommodation at Taupo, where Sir Joseph Ward 'has gone for a holiday, is not particularly good, though there is a very comfortable establishment about two miles away. At Taupo the trout are very abundant and excellent fishing can be obtained. Peopler going to that district for a holiday would do well to take tents, as there are plenty of camping grounds. The atmosphere is clear and cool and laden with oxygen. The locality has the reputation of being one of t'lie healthiest spots in New Zealand . The residents appear to enjoy robust health, and it would be impossible for a doctor to make a living there if he had to depend on the people becoming ill. There is a coach service from P,.otoTua to Taupo, the distance of 50 miles being covered in one day. There is also a motor service from Taupo to Waiotapu, a distance of about 25 miles.

"If tourist traffic is going to fall into the hands of syndicates I don't wonder at it not paying the Government," said Mr. Hogg in conclusion, "and this is not the sort of thing that should be allowed."