IN THE NORTHLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 32, 8 February 1926, Page 5

IN THE NORTHLAND.

THROUGH THREE COUNTIES. OHAEAWAI TO REINGA. THE MINISTERIAL TOUR. (By Telegraph.-Special to "Star.") KAITAIA, this day. Splendid country wae passed through from Ohaeawai—where the Ministerial party spent Friday night—to Kaitaia, via Whangaroa and Mangonui, a jour- ! ney of 80 miles by road. Making an early start from the stop- . over place, the three cars set out -on Saturday morning passing through the • northern counties, viz., Bay of Islands, Whangaroa and Mangonui, en route to Kaitaia, the capital of the potential i "Northland," as it has to be known. In ! the early morning sunlight the country ; round about Ohaeawai looked most progressive, and after the rain of the previous evening the pastures were bright and green. Passing through the historical locality of Waimate, a good idea • of the productiveness of the district was obtained. The soil, generally speaking, was of a light volacnic nature of good quality, but, as one experienced member of the party said, if one could arrangefor 12 hours' rain per week during the dry season of the year, then there would be nothing to stop it from becoming the greatest dairy and producing county south of the Line. 1 The party remarked upon the num- , bers of piebald horses met throughout . tho trip, and the "Star" special representative waa told that this was one of the characteristics of the North. Manyyears ago smal circuses used to travel through the country, and they would leave old horses on the roadside. These were mostly piebald, hence their descendants. Historical Waimate. At Waimate is situated the site of . the first church in New Zealand, in i which the first marriage in the colony ; took place. The register shows that the ceremony was performed by Bishop Sel- . wyn, the first and only Bishop of New Zealand. Here, also, lie the remains of tlie gallant Lieutenant Johnston, who fell rushing tlie great pa during the 1 northern Maori war, and mentioned in I all historical works dealing with that period. Other interesting mementos of ' past and early history are also seen on the road. One was the old flour mill, the cogs and machinery of which were made of wood, by the early missionaries. This has been allowed to get into a state of disrepair. At the head of the Waitaki River, there is much Maori land of good quality, but it is weed-infested and should be made productive. All the way to the Wiroa Kauri Gam Reserve the road passed through pretty clumps of natnve bush, mostly consisting of puriri and taraire. The cars had not gone far from Waimate when they ran into the true gum country, characteristic of the North, the only signs of life being the many gum diggers' huts and store 3. This block of gum, land consists of I 14,000 acres and the only tiling it is' suitable for is tree planting. From here on is the Puketotara block of about 1900 acres, all good farming I land. Then on to Waipapa and right to Kaitaia are splendid roads and it is marvellous to see what has been done during the last three years. At that time cars could not get over certain parts of these roads at this particular time of year, but road-making work is going on all the time. Much of the land on towards Waipapa has been ploughed and sown with brown-top and danthonia. Bonnie Children. In the latter district and, indeed, right through the north, one fact which has struck the Ministerial party is the number of healthy, bonnie-looking child- . ren about. The patty travelled through four miles of ironstone country, all rolling plains. Near the swamps a little of it is good for fruit tree cultivation. At Waipapa the Government has 20,000 acres, some of which the settlers want 1 thrown open. Here is situated the Kapiro kauri gum reserve, bounded on the north by Takou Bay and Kerekiri Inlet, and on the south by the road running inland for some miles*. The whole block consists of from 40,000 to 60,000 acres. There are some fine trout streams throughout it, but the whole area is covered with hakea, a noxious weed which was imported from America for a hedge plant. The land is ironstone formation, with a considerable amount of fine river flats. As soon as the cars left this particular block of country, for the two miles into Whangaroa County a similar class of country was passed through, but more broken. Then they went on to Oretere Hill, where the good land 3of the North start again. At the foot of the hill, two miles distant, were the rich Kaeo River ' flats. On whichever side one looked, I theße flats are splendid dairying country where some great Jersey herds are grazed. It was all very restful to the ,eye after miles of gum lands. I A real typical Maori welcome greeted 1 the party on arrival at Kaeo. It was here that the first Methodist missionaries set foot in New Zealand on June j 10, 1823. A cairn marks the spot and j a church has been erected to their j memory by the descendants of the original settlers. A speech of welcome was read at Kaeo by the Rev. P. Poata, to which the Hon. A. D. McLeod suitably replied. Whangaroa and Mangonui. Skirting the Pupuke Valley and goin« across towards Whangaroa again some excelent dairying country was passed through. Here, too, excellent roads were traversed, especially across the arms of Whangaroa Harbour. From the tops of the hills beautiful peeps of jthis most picturesque spot in the North were to be had, the calm waters sparkling in the sunlight. To the right was the high promontory of St. Paul, and on the left St. Peter, whilst right ahead was Taratara. A wonderful sight was to see the reclaimed mud swamps growing grass in profusion. Delightful little peeps of Totara North and Whangaroa were had until passing over the high hills surrounding Whangaroa Harbour, and then the party travelled down into the rich and fertile Orua.iti Valley where, for eight miles, a great sheep country was passed through, and then into the township of Mangonui, another historical town of the North. Here a stop of three-quarters of an hour was made to receive deputations, and then it was up and up steep hills till practically the whole of the extensive Mangonui Harbour came into view in all its glory. Long will those views remain in the memory of every jone of the Ministerial party touring the j great Northland of New Zealand.