LOVELY WAITOMO.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 250, 22 October 1928, Page 5

LOVELY WAITOMO.

AMERICAN VISITOR PLEASED.

NEED OF MORE PUBLICITY.

"TOO MUCH GOVERNMENT CONTROL."

"The only thing wrong with New Zealand is that there is too much darned Government control in New Zealand. What you want is more private enterprise, as that spells efficiency."

This is the emphatic opinion of Mr. J. M. Hopd, of Los Angeles, California, who has been making an extensive tour of New Zealand before returning to the United States. Mr. Hood arrived here a few weeks ago and broke his journey at Auckland with the intention of visiting Rotorua, the Franz Josef Glacier and Milford Sound. On reaching' Wellington he found that the Milford Sound trip was not possible, so he contented himself with a tour of the North Island.

"It was worth coming to the end of the world to see," said Mr.* Hood, in giving his impressions of the Waitomo Caves. "There is nothing like them in any part of the world." Rotorua and Wairakei he thoroughly enjoyed, likewise Taupo and the combined panorama of Lake Taupo and the mountains in the National Park. Mr. Hood said the geysers of New Zealand were not on the extensive scale of Yellowstone Park in the United States, but there was a greater variety of scenery, and New Zealand had in a nutshell all that could possibly be imagined. Up in Alaska they had "the Valley of a Thousand Smoke," a wierd volcanic and thermal region, but it was completely off the beaten track and very little was known of it. In New Zealand he had seen nothing prettier than the Awakino Valley, on the way from New Plymouth to Te Kuiti, and he was surprised that it did not appear to be more appreciated. Mr. Hood said that as far as New Zealand was concerned there was need for giving people in other parts of the world more information. On his way to New Zealand he had had the greatest difficulty in ascertaining whether a car with a left-hand drive was allowed in New Zealand. In Los Angeles it was almost impossible to get much information about the scenic attractions that New Zealand offered to prospective visitors, but he had been able to find considerable information in a booklet issued by the Canterbury Automobile Association.

In conclusion Mr. Hood said that New Zealand had much to attract visitors, but the urgent need was more publicity.