Page 7 Advertisements Column 3

Press, 21 October 1978, Page 7

j Written by LES BLOXHAM, and prepared before the jour« ualists strike began on October 9.

This is. no doubt of it, part of the forest primeval. The leaf canopy is high, the undergrowth thick, the floor a mass of old moss-covered roots, so tangled that the ground beneath them is hard to find. There is the total feeling of encompassment — in the depths of all manner of growth, completely covering the earth, driving high and crowding the air space above — that is one of the characteristics of virgin New Zealand bush. Here the prime tree is the kauri, most of it hundreds of years old (perhaps up to 1000 or more).-This is an ancient forest. Big trees grow amid the ruins of yet bigger trees. Young kauri grow on the mouldering stumps of their ancestors. There seems to be a gap in the generations. The smaller trees are so much younger than the big ones, that at some time past there must have been a period of centuries when few seedlings grew, or at lease survived. But there are enough youngsters today to carry on from the dead and dying giants that here and there scatter the forest. On a plateau high above the rest of the land, so close to the sea as to be within sound of the breakers, but feeling closer to the clouds, the kauri have backed up areas of swamp with their centuries of debris. Their feet in this water, some of the proud trees falter. But elsewhere, especially on the slopes of the plateau, the giant heads are green and strong. There is something formidable about such mighty bush. When a few of our party are temporarily separated from the main group one is suddenly aware of the ease of getting lost, even a few yards from safety. As the quick search to locate them begins, heavy mist swirls in from the direction of the sea, hitting the big trunks and eddying around them. The already thick bush closes in. But is is only a passing mist; the cloud of it soon passes away over the rest of the forest. Man has been allowed — even encouraged by past acts of political insensitivity — to cut into this forest. Our path into the untouched zone has been through an area left virtually bare not long ago, the scene made uglier by tangled heaps of unwanted kauri heads left to rot. But the bush has already started to take back the land that was ravaged; and man is starting to replant what was cut away. The area beyond, where much kauri still stands in a community of plants older than man’s presence in this land, is designated to be saved. It should soon be a sanctuary; available, because of its steep, grandstand setting, for anyone to view; but secured from man’s taking.

offers A MARKETING FELLOWSHIP with tuition and accommodation paid at top Australian Marketing Programme The R. N. McDonald Fellowship entitles the successful nominee to free attendance at the Institute's Sixth Intermediate Marketing Programme with 50 Australian marketing executives. To be held: 7-20 January, 1979 MITCHELL COLLEGE of ADVANCED EDUCATION, BATHURST,N.S.W., AUSTRALIA. The course is taught by leading American and Australian instructors. Preference in awarding this Fellowship will be given to applicants of Polynesian or Melanesian birth. Complete and mail the coupon below for further details and nomination form. The International Marketing Institute of Australia P. O. Box 40 Gordon, N.S.W. 2072, AUSTRALIA. . Please send me details of the R. N. McDonald Fellowship; NAME: I ORGANISATION: ADDRESS:

DON’T BUY COUNTERSTAT SUPS because they’ll be $4.99 (Normally $7,991 from 9a.m. Tuesday CARNIVAL OF BARGAINS DIC BEATHS S in I ■ ✓ 1. 'V THE BIGGEST CIRCULATION iN THE L SOUTH