WIDE PANORAMA.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 149, 25 June 1936, Page 9

WIDE PANORAMA.

FROM PUKEKOHE HILL.

CENTRE OF FERTILE FARMS.

MOUNTAINS AS LANDMARKS.

With hills thrown up in profusion around Auckland there are many peaks from which wonderful panoramas may be enjoyed, and among them is Pukekohe Hill, a stone's throw from Pukekohe railway station. For the variety of scenery the view is unequalled in the Dominion. To the north, south, east and west there is a feast of scenic colours resting upon mountain and valley, river and sea, town and farm, and as one stands transfixed with wonder the silence is broken only by the lowing of' herds or the faint chug of some distant milking plant. Away to the north is the Queen City itself ill a setting of volcanic cones. Dr. Hochstetter —the old German scientist —once counted some sixty extinct volcanic cones within a ten-mile radius of Auckland city. Behind is Rangitoto, with its far-famed three peaks, while in between on a carpet of green are rich farms and small settlements. As the gaze moves to the east the eye is arrested by the Bombay Hills stretching across to the Moumoukai Valley, with a lot of unbroken country awaiting settlers to break down 'the bush and fern and turn those hills into smiling farms. At the southern end of the Bombays the Pokeno Mountain raises its triangular peak—a landmark, but also a memory to the old time motorist, a memory of a shocking climb up out of Pokeno and over Bombay. Peeping over the tops of Bombay is Castle Rock, of | the Coromandels. A Train Puffs Along. Down the valley formed by those hills and the one upon which one is standing are closely-settled areas showing examples of extensive farming. Up the centre of this valley wanders a tiny train, puffing and fussing its way towards the city with its freight of humans and goods. Then on the racecourse underneath die golfera

can be seen at play, appearing about the size of the balls they are playing with.

Closer still is the town of Pukekolie, with its potato fields of renown. Now turning south, there is the Waikato River, like a silver ribbon winding its way from the Taupiri Gorge, thirty or forty miles distant, into the great father of waters. In the middle distance is the old Whangamarino Swamp, tree plantations at the back of Maramarua can be plainly seen. And on the river below Mercer railway station, bringing to one's mind, vast cups of tea and swallowed at some unearthly hour of the night. Towering over the Hakaremata Ranges, near Ng&ruawahia, is Mount Karioi, fifty miles away, rugged in its grandeur and whoso foothills form the south' head of Raglan harbour.

Another turn, this time to the west, and the Waikato River is seen, until it loses itself in the mighty Tasman. Down below is the Aka Aka flat, once a

swamp, now drained, and on it _ are fertile farmlcts. Then there is Waiuku township, neat and trim, with a backing of sandhills, which hold back the great waters of the ocean beyond. Sunshine on Water. At last, but not least, there spreads out the Manukau harbour, shimmering in the morning sun, what seem to be bits of white paper floating on its waters, but which are really yachts with lovers of the sea aboard. Still beyond 011 the far shores of the Manukau, another barrier of hills arises, cutting off the vision northwards; these are the Waitakere Ranges, almost black in the distance. One stands still, captured by the greatness of it all, just a piece of earth, covered with a carpet of green and bounded by the great seas, which can easily be seen 011 both sides. Such is the view from Pukekohe Hill.