THE WAITAKERES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 170, 20 July 1935, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE WAITAKERES.

<Js.v Betty Nicliolls.)

There t lie y stand, pleated biishrh'.d 1 hills, a magnificent picture <;f sheer j beauty, towering pivcipitous on the western horizon. Winding through the heart of the picturesque native forest, are narrow leaf-strewn paths, that !en<! in and out amongst the. trill graceful palms and flourishing shrubbery. Ilere and there, a straight, tall kauri stands erect; over there a small cluster of nikau palms help to clothe the grassy slopes, and on each nide of the earthen path numerous trees spread their thick gnarled branches overhead. Growing picturesquely beside a small trickling spring, delicate, lace-like ferns, with pale green fronds, droop in a | graceful manner; clinlbing up t he tallj treo trmikfs, flowering creepers twine themselves around, and, though it is yet > barely autumn-time, the ground is carpeted with tinted leaves.

Between the leafy trees, a small bubbling, brook ripples mid gurgles, tossing over the smooth pebbles un its rough bud, ami not fur away an old, old rustic bridge bpatw this pretty little stream.

Up in the trees, birds pour forth their most elegant melodies, while others screech harshly, as they fly from tree to tree. Scurrying into the nearest bracken bush a brown, wild rabbit, hearing the approach of some lurking enemy, rushes across the path to safety.