"TOURIST IN TAKAKA"

New Zealand Listener, Volume 32, Issue 815, 11 March 1955, Page 5

"TOURIST IN TAKAKA"

Sir,-The article written by Lawrence Constable, "Tourist in Takaka," contains so many inaccuracies that it cannot be left unchallenged. Most of the article gives a distorted picture of Takaka, and some of it is half true and some is definitely not true. It can be assumed that Mr. Constable spent a few hours in our town, accepted the hospitality for which Takaka is renowned and rushed off this article about a place of which he had learned as much as Takaka learned of him. The dusty road over the hill is the Richmond- Collingwood State Highway and, except for about a quarter of a mile at Richmond, the road is sealed the 70 miles from Nelson to Takaka. The town area is certainly built on a triangle and is a little over two miles round the block, not three. Mr. Constable was probably travelling too fast to notice the three side streets branching off from the main one. Ask any experienced traveller if it is not fact that all the hotel proprietors go out of their way to make their guests comfortable in a homely way. I lived four end a half years at the hotel referred to in the article, and have done business with the other two, so am in a position to be quite sure of the friendly character of these people, The comment concerning the pictures in the lounges, is, I think, in the worst possible taste, There are two pictures of the proprietor’s parents of whom he might be justly proud. One of them is of a splendid gentleman, taken in former years, who has had this hotel for 34 years, and who, after passing his three score years and ten, had’ the tenacity and faith in Takaka personally to supervise and work on the rebuilding of the hotel after the disastrous fire four years ago. The other picture is of a very gracious lady admired and honoured by all those who knew her. It might be mentioned that plans: were drawn for the new hotel over a year before the fire "occurred. The innuendo contained in ‘the paragraph about the proprietor’s toilet accessories left in the bathroom is definitely not true as he and his family occupy a private suite which Mr. Constable has never seen. The "Breath of Life" to be obtained from the ‘fascinating’ proposed Coast Road would leave even Mr. Constable cold. It can breathe up to sixty miles per hour quite frequently. This road would certainly open up some good country, also a considerable area of very_ bad land. And the cost would be such that no Minister of Works would. sanction it. Takaka as a whole has managed to survive for about a century on its old breath, and most of the residents can struggle along without this proposed new one. The score of shops in the town area actually -totals 32: There are eleven commercial offices, not including "the plentiful shipping offices," which total up to the colossal number of two. It is rather amazing. that although Mr. Constable could not see anyone on the streets between noon and two p.m. (and there are plenty of them) he could see a lorry under a cloud of dust, trav-’ elling on a sealed road at Pohara Beach, It is hard to understand the reference made about Miss McCallum’s eels and people known to Mr. Constable. He probably associates with a different type of people from what we are, so no further comment is called for. In conclusion, visitors to Takaka can rest assured that there is never any cheating

at the pictures either Wednesday, Friday or Saturday, and-that a warm welcome awaits all those who visit our contented little town.

GEO. T.

WILLOUGHBY

(Takaka).

(Mr. Constable replies: "As the unashamed tourist I called myself in the title, let me say that: the whole Takaka side of the hill was far from sealed when I crossed it late in November; the new pub in the town is topnotch; there is dust on either side of the tar-sealed bit at Pohara; and the five small shipping companies with their nameplates out for business (albeit in two offices) were still a surprise to a city slicker. Admitted the chances are remote of the Heaphy Track ever becoming a road, but mainly because we are so thick with scenic possibilities and so thin of people. I am sorry the correpondent has mistaken the whole spirit of what I wrote. It isn’t necessary to spend a lifetime in Takaka to be impressed by its warmth, friendliness and contentment. I liked it a lot.’’-Ed.)