The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1026. NEW ZEALAND'S VARIETY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 24, 29 January 1926, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1026. NEW ZEALAND'S VARIETY.

For the cause that lack* ataislance, For the wrong that need* resistance, For the future in the dietonce, And the good that we can do.

Those wlio make holiday on this Anniversary Day amid the land and aea delights of Auckland and its surroundings can hardly be expected to give much thought to other scenes in this wonderful country of ours. Sufficient to the day is the beauty thereof. Yet to-day it is appropriate to discuss the infinite variety of scene that New Zealand has to offer, and to remember that lovely as Auckland is, and numerous as are her attractions, the whole country from the North Cape to Stewart Island is one #rcat storehouse of Nature's beauty and wonder. While Auckland people are enjoying to-day in their familiar surj roundings, many of their fellow-citizens are visiting the Exhibition at the other end of tho Dominion, or tasting the delights of the Otago Lakes, Mount Cook, or the West Coast bush roads. It is worth while noting that the - South thinks it has a grievance in this respect. It complains that tho attractions of the North Island are receiving a disproportionate amount of publicity. The matter was discussed by tlie Dunedin Chamber of Commerce a few days ago, when Mr. Peter Barr, whose knowledge of New Zealand must be extensive, read correspondence that had passed between the j Chamber and the Publicity Board. Mr. j Barr did not suggest that the Board was J biased in favour of the North Island. I but he had written to the Board saying I that it was a matter of common comment in the South that "whoever 13 responsible, there has unquestionably been some agency at work in the past which has led to intending tourists from 1 the Old Country, America, and Australia receiving an impression that the attractions of New Zealand are all to be found (■in the North Island." Another speaker at the meeting said that North Island tourist resorts seemed to receive almost exclusively the publicity outside New Zealand, and he cited the case of two Melbourne visitors who had declared. j that before they set out they could get jno information about the South Island. I Without charging anybody in particuI lar with bias, we may say we think our I .Southern friends have some cause for 'complaint. They should bear in mind, however, as philosophically as they can, 1 that circumstances are against them. , The astonishing leap forward in North Island development in the last generation helps to concentrate attention upon the scenic attractions of the island, as upon other things. Then tne fact that j the bulk of the traffic with oversea countries is'done from northern ports is a weighty factor in the tourist's choice lof itinerary. Nearly all oversea visitors land at Auckland or Wellington, and if their time is limited they naturally give preference to the sights near at hand. To the question, which is tlio more attractive island, no definite answer can be given. It depends upon taste. The Melbourne tourists quoted in Dunedin are reported to have said that the superiority of Southern resorts was "a thousand to one," but no doubt others could be found who prefer the North. The greatest asset of the North Island is the thermal region. It is unique in the southern hemisphere; there are few regions like it anywhere. In other countries there are many more rivals of the Mount Cook region than there are of Rotorua. On the other hand, the South Island is far superior in high j mountain and lake scenery. This scenery, indeed, ranks among the finest anywhere, and delights those who have seen the i best in other countries. Mountain holij days are the 'best for many New Zeaj landers who live by the sea, and though North Island residents will make increasing use of the Euapehu region, that is not to be compared with the sweep of j the Alps in the South Island. Moreover, j the mountains of New Zealand offer a | striking contrast to the life in the cities J of Australia, and the Southern Alps! should become one of the playgrounds of our continental neighbour. Australians should be encouraged to go to the New Zealand Alps, just as Englishmen are encouraged to make holiday in Switerland. It is difficult for any organisation, public or private, to hold the scales evenly between sucli attractions as our two islands present, but the South Island has a right to expect that its glories shall not be overlooked. One good pffect of the Exhibition at Dnnedin will be to give North Island people a better idea of Southern attractions, and in addition these will receive a certain amount of advertisement abroad.