MIRRORED SURFACES.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 23, 28 January 1928, Page 16

MIRRORED SURFACES.

WATERS OF ARAPUNI.

NEW VISTAS OPENED UP.

COUNTRY OF GEOLOGICAL

INTEREST,

Granite-like rocks, some serrated and fantastic in shape, others cracked horizontally and resembling Giant's Causeway. frowning cliffs rising sheer from the water's edge, dancing cascades and a pellucid waterway rivalling the depths of ZSiilford Sound, are but a few of the vistas opened up for tourists by the closing of the diversion tunnel gates at Arapuni.

Ihe work of Nature lias been so rudely shocked bv the damming of the Waikato in recent months, that a beautiful expanse of water, 190 feet in depth in parts, and narrowing down from a mile in width to a slowly-moving bushlined channel, has backed up, making navigation by launch possible for over 18 miles above Arapuni. Beyond that still, progress is possible by canoe or small craft.

For all tliis, the upper reaches of the liver are not likely to prove as popular a scenic river as the Wanganui, as some fondly imagine, and commercially it is at present almost valueless, giving access to but a few isolated settlers who toil on the undulating country, for the most part desolate and clad with stunted growth. Giving the appearance at present of being worthless even for sheep raising, the river might nevertheless be the means of bringing much of the little explored territory on the fringes of the King Country into productivity. Possibly in the pioneering days equally as seemingly insurmountable problems were tackled, and surmounted.

By 110 means monotonous by reason of its irregularity, curious and distorted rock formations and peculiar abutments exceeding pvramidic proportions, the district is immensely interesting from a geological point of view. Little penetrated previously on account of its extreme ruggedness and the density of its tea-tree growth, it should prove an invaluable field for study. Various theories have been advanced to explain how the massive boulders came to frown 011 the countryside from the hills that recede in the distance. One is that some mighty disturbance, mightier than that conceived by man, charged the Waikato with silt and pumice, which was deposited over the rocks already there, but there is still a great deal that remains unexplained.

Another point of interest on the shores nine miles up the lake is a model Maori pa, replete with battlements and entrenchments and reminiscent of the fierce Maori wars. Occupying an almost impregnable position, it is so cunningly concealed that it is hardly observable from the lake.

It is predicted that Lake Arapuni—if such it will be called—will develop into an angler's paradise, exceeding that of Taupo, but to the man who prefers the babbling brook and rushing rapids for his field of sport, the suggestion is rather fanciful. In my case it will be many a day before the dream is realised, for at the moment what trout remain in the lake are growing fat on the koura and fresh-Water crayfish which have multiplied with the. encroachment of the water into scrub land, and cannot be tempted to rise for the insignificant imitation fly. While it is said that the silt brought down to the lower reaches by the diversion of the river to its old channel has had a disastrous effect on trout there, those trapped in the lake are growing robust and thriving.

Members of the Auckland Power •Board had a launch placed at their convenience when they visited Arapuni yesterday, and for two hours revelled in an excursion on the river. They passed a mile beyond the stone quarry—lo miles from Arapuni—which feeds an endless chain of buckets, to a point where the 'tops of submerged trees peep out inquisitively, and the river narrows down appreciably. * Quite a number of wild ducks were seen on the wing, and it is quite apparent that the lake will prove popular from a shootist's point of view if not from that of the angler.