IN PRAISE OF PICTON.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 715, 14 January 1910, Page 3

IN PRAISE OF PICTON.

; l'or a . health resort or .a:, short holiday trip' there is no more ;;charming .; place 'to';, stay, in than; Picton. V ,Its■■'accessibility; to .the numerous' lovely sounds and bays,' makes- it - an/ excellent,iplace to;, choose as - one's, headquarters on.: an /active.. toli.: day. :toiir. -are;many, . and it/possesses; a private; boardinghouse.'.. A .'.few-' years,, ago;' rowing'. boats were -in -tho majority, 1 'but,-, nowadays, motor-launches reign / in popularity, and very , spacious and .comfor,table 1 they are, carrying , as many ; as -' forty-five..-people' conveniently. - A' party,' of friends from Wellington . who -ware . in l'icton : three iweekfl together ; this-.- Christmas, -found their stay, ■ there •full ; of enjoyment. : . One: day. a 6tcamcr -was Chartered for' a trip to Endeavourlnlet, and. all .the historic, places'- mentionedbjr':-'. Captain Cook—Bay. of Many Coves;' Snips': -Inlet, Kcsolutiou'Bay,' and visited. The' ..was: perfect, 1 numbers 1 of porpoises' : or. • black-nsh ■• were ; seen, and tho 'steamer passed-through thousands of jelly-fish. 'V' •;■/■.'". ■ 1 - Another'' excursion; was by,'steam launch to "Toua,'''.'from where tho party walked over Va - hill -,by ; easy grades,' and/ when they reached the top,; had' .a'magnificent view of Kenepuru ; Sound/ with, its dazzling- blue' waters, and, behind them, Queen Charlotte Sound,- with its changing.'colours "of: greenish blue, and •; its wo.oded hills reaching to the water's edge. They walked: to. one • of/ the most -. beautiful .spots;; called : "Portage/' and found alaunch, previously-', engaged/*; awaiting them. Embarking, - they - wound' .for miles -and;.' miles, in and,out of the. wonderful bays, and sounds. They had morning .tea'in ; one bay, inncli in another, and afternoon tea somewhere else; each spot 'more'/wonderful''than :the former. Ships' Cove is the finest of; all, and forms an ideal: camping-gronuu -with' its "virgin . bush. iThere, is a': good ; bathing ground, ' and some :of .the'party who . . went off", ij, : a dinghy found; that as soon as the' lines ; touched, the-water the rock-cod bit. The fish, . cooked as. soon as possible, were : very - delicious; ■ There were wild cherry trees, and, in one -place/ they were found growing , so luxuriantly that they made a deep,-patch of ..colour against the hillside.';. Jam made from these iKentish cherries. is ; said - to be very "delicious. At another b.iy one of . the . party climbed a steep liill and' found thousands of', Cape. gooseberry plants, . and . several .members of -the party took home with them quantities of the fruit, which is now v reposing in jars in -Wcllinjiton store-rooms, 'converted, into delicious jam.' Tho bush along tho sounds is very Vautiful,; the dark biroh treee,. -.with

light forms in; between, interspersed with, ti-troe, flax,:karaka, ,and rangiora, : f°rm a wild luxuriant growth such as one rarely sees 'nowadays. Fire and ases have despoiled. a great many.fmo scenic spots, but tho Government has wisoly preserved some of tho best. .

■ Double Bay,-much prized by Picton residents,. is a truly magnificent reserve, with, its s precipitous hills clothed .with giant trees,: and its .'streams of pure, water; shelving beach, ■ and excellent bathing-place make it an ■ ■ ideal ' picnio spot. .

Endeavour Inlet, with its antimony mine, the deserted' miners' cottages, up whose mud, - and cobble chimneys the crimson'ramblers clung as if' they: Still delighted the eyes of long-departed odttagers, arid the fruit trees growing among a tangle of docks and weeds,, was an .interesting place to-visit. ' Some/of the docks had; reached an enormous' size, and,' with their deep crimson leaves; tfere handsome enough. tor table decoration. Mountain lilies, mistletoe, "copper-tmted birch, a species of orchid with a green flower' that, when- bruised, smells like aniseed,, and,a variety of white daisy, all grow:. , there, luxuriantly. The wild pigeon; the weka; arid-the tui, .with its clear bell note, haunt the '• charming place,: arid •it seemed as there also was the Spirit of the Bush breathing; its soft presence.. ■ It 'was after: a. visit to a place so rich in/beauty and in. interest that'the holiday.-: for this, summer ended, and'everj. member "• of .the ./party hoped that - the following 'year would see them there again. ; . •,.; :