ON HORSEBACK to the LAKES. [ BY ONE OF A PARTY.] III ON THE ROAD.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1683, 19 April 1883, Page 3

ON HORSEBACK to the LAKES. [ BY ONE OF A PARTY.] 111 ON THE ROAD.

At luncheon we were lucky enough to meet a friend who, with his wife, had only just arrived at Rotorua. On learning onr plans they at once agreed to join us, and our party was thereby increased to seven. As we stood outside the hotel, waiting for our conveyance to pick us tip, we had the mortification of seeing our London tourist friends (seven of them also) rattle off nlong the road we were going, and by the time we were comfortably seated in our trap they had obtained a considerable start. To overtake them was out of the question, though our Jehu hinted that he could do it if necessary. Looking back, it strikes me that he wanted us to bribe him, but our understandings were too douse to take in the full significance of the proportion at the time— probably owing to the sulphur. Nevertheless the driver was a very pleasant, companionable fellow, and ' kept up a running fire of conversation the whole way. His method of pronouncing the native names was peculiar and original, it is true, _ but that ■would have been a trifling matter had not one of our party become infected with the same complaint, assaulting our ears M'ith such barbarisms as " Waka-river-rivcr," which was the whip's equivalent for Whakarewarewa. The mention of this name reminds me of my tourist friends. We had not proceeded more than a mile or so along the western end of the lake, skirting the celebrated Sulphur Point, when it occurred to our minds that outfriends had turned off to see the Great Geyser, and sure enough our lynx-eyed driver discerned their coach travelling in that direction. Here was an opportunity to out- wit them which we were not slow to take advantage of. On the question being put, it was lesolved, unanimously, that we should proceed straight on to Wairoa. We wete not above roughing it, if necessary, but all things consideted it would, we thought, bo better to have first choice of quartets at the hotel. And so it happened that Whakaicwarcwa is atill unvisited so far as we aie concerned. Jl have no doubt we missed something, qkut if so, at least that consolation is ours Which Wordsworth found when he wrote of Yarrow Unvisited. And if in our case earn brings its " freezing yeais," Wliakarewarewa will be much better than the " bonny holms of Yarrow." Turning to the left, we wound round the shore of the lake, and commenced to ascend the range of hills which separates Kotorua from Tarawera. The road for some miles possesses no particular charm. Save that, looking luck, we catch glimpses of Rotorua, the view changing as we go, there is little to see. The hillsides are bare, and the clouds of dust that envelope us occasionally drive all the poetry out of our souls. But there is a delight awaiting us a little further on winch -w ill seive to compensate us for all present disagreeables. Our driver's tongue has wagged incessantly the whole time. He interlards his remarks with sundry encouraging words addressed to his team, and the effect is striking. ' ' Is the road good in winter," we ask. "No" is the response- -" hi up there— not always— get along— l have known it to be awful— what are yer doing."

TIKITAPU BUSH AND LAKE. About six miles from Oliinemutii the road begins to descend, and soon we dive under the green arches of Tikitapu bush. After the hot sun and the dust, our first sensation was of relief and thankfulness, but it soon yielded to one of admiration. Our native bush is generally open to the charge of monotony, but here we had something which would ha\e seemed a verdict of "not guilty' 4 from the most prosaic jury in the world. The road, which i 3 well formed and hard, is entirely overarched by the foliage, so that for the' distance of a mile or so our way isthiough an avenue, not of tall and sombrous pines exactly, for the prevailing timber is rimu and tawa, and there is an infinity of shrub and parasite that bewilders the eye. Here there is no want of variety, either in form or colour. Pleasant indeed, would it be to lie in this sylvan Bcene, "Where the lonp drooping boughs between, Sh idows il.irk and sunlight sheen Alternate come find tfo. It is autumn, but the sunshine and the woods aie as blithe as though it werp spring. There is no "sober gladness'" in the scene, it is one of pure lighthearted, youthful gaity, potent enough to rob the mind of all serious thoughts, and to lift the heaviest weight of! the hcatt. In truth, the bush is one of indesciibable beauty. Neaiing the edge, we c.itch thiouch the opening in the trees our first glimpse of Lake Tikitapu. In a few minutes we are out of the forest and abreast of the lake. It is small, scarcely a mile in diameter, and lies in a natural basin in the hills. The colour of the water is a delicate blue, and this, contrasted with the rugged grey mountains which rise up around, makes up a picture which is not easily effaced. Tlnough a gap in the hills on the far side lies Rotokakahi, known locally .13 the Green Lake, fiom the hue of its waters. Separated from Tikitapu by a few chau.s only, it is yet some seventy feet less abo\ c sea level. It is larger than its neighbour, and in its own way grander. The encom| ussing hills rise up almost perpendicularly, bare, stoney and austere. We skiit the southern end of Rotokakabi, ard looking down over its surface we see the great Horohoro towering above the intervening heights. The lake is about three miles long, and probably a mile in width. Crossing the Wairoa creek, the outlet of Rotokakahi to Tarawera, we follow the course of the little stream for a mile or so, until the presence of willows, sweetbriar and peach trees indicate that we have reached the native settlement snd former mission station, Wairoa.

WAITIOA. W.i iron's groat grievance is that it docs not own a single hot spring. I am inclined to think, somehow, that it is above the line of fire, its altitude being much greater than that of either Rotorua or Rotomabana. In other respects the settlement is fortunate in its site. It nestles midway in the huge gorge that stretches from Rotokakahi to Tarawera, and commands some of the finest scenery in the colony, if not, indeed, in the world. The native dwellings are substantial, and apparently comfortable, while the natives themselves are fine specimens of the race. As we pulled up at Macraes hotel, numbers of our dusky brothers and sisters were there to greet us. Living, as it were, alongside the great highway to the Terraces, the natives of Wairoa'have acquired a knowledge of European manners jinicustoms denied to those located in neighbourhoods. Taking of this, it is, nevertheless, not without surprise that visitors note the evidentadvancesmade toward civilisation. The children especially give evidence of something even approaching to culture — to that " sweetness and light," which Mr Arnold says distinguishes the civilised being from the savage. Nothing could well exceed their politenes. On meeting one they invariably say "Good evening, sir,'' or " Good morning, sir," as the case may be, and one of my friends was not a little startled with the "I beg your pardon, sir," which fell from a little lad who failed to catch some remark addressed to him. The children, so they informed us, have been, and are educated in a Government school adjoining, and the progress they have made is a striking testimony of' the ability displayed by the teacher. They all affect European costume, as do their elders. The fashiunable female costume consists of a flaming red, or blue gown with loose juniper of gome other equally pronounced tint, and the inevitable high-heeled boots. Shawls and blankets are added according to taste. (To ho oantiwedj.