ROTORUA CONDITIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 20, 24 January 1929, Page 8

ROTORUA CONDITIONS.

A TOURIST'S IMPRESSIONS.

"SHABBY AND DILAPIDATED."

NATIVE ATTIRE DESIRABLE.

Deploring the dilapidated condition of the bathhouses at Rotorua, and the general atmosphere of decay, an Australian tourist who has made several visits to Rotorua in recent years stated in an interview to-clav that the show place of New Zealand was much less attractive to-day than it was a few years back.

"What strikes the visitor about the place is the air of neglect. Somehow tourists don't seem to be encouraged as they should. What a wonderful place Rotorua would be if it were in American hands! There wouldn't be a resort in all the world that could touch it. Why can't New Zealand run it on proper lines? The place is shabby and dilapidated. It is fading away.

"The Duchess bath could be vastly improved. White tiles and electric illumination from the bottom would make it one of the best swimming pools in the world."

The tourist said he was disappointed to find the Maoris at Whakarewarewa conforming so closely to European customs. People did not expect to see Maoris inside the enclosure wearing silk stockings, high heels and bobbed hair, or Oxford bags and fancy shirts. The buildings In which the Maoris lived at Whaka were not a credit to the place. Something should be done by the Maori Arts and Crafts Board to make Whaka a model pa, and the natives should be encouraged to meet visitors in their traditional attire. Mats and a few bits of greenstone worn over European clothing were not enough.

"Twenty years ago Whakarewarewa was a much more charming piaee. In those days the Maoris were not imitating American tourists. They looked and acted like Maoris. To-day they might be Hawaiians, judging by their songs, clothing and demeanour."