WONDERFUL COUNTRY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 8 May 1925, Page 6

WONDERFUL COUNTRY.

NEW ZEALANDERS DO NOT REALISE IT.

WHAT A VISITOR. THINKS

“You New Zealanders do not realise in what a wonderful country you are living,” said Sir 'Hector Duff, of London, in speaking his impressions after a month spent in New Zealand. Sir Hector was formerly Governor of Nyassaland, South Africa, and is a keen sportsman both with the rod and gun. “What has struck me most,” said Sir Hector, “i s how animals troduced into your Dominion prosper and increase in size and number. Your trout are as big as our salmon and it is reported that wapiti has been shot in the South that beats American records for size. Red deer have increased until they have become a pest, and as this is not an isolated case of imported pests I imagine New Zealand will watch further introductions very carefully. If your country were nearer Britain its fame as a sporting paradise would attract a flood of visitors, and even against the great handicap of distance more sportsmen will visit New Zealand as its attractions become more widely known.”

Sir Hector Duff has recently been fishing at Taupo and Rotorua, after visiting Hawke’s Bay, where he has landed interests. He remarked of the fishing that it was “most phenomenal.” a great asset, and he had enjoyed his fishing trip greatly. New Zealanders, he said, did not realise how fortunate they were in this land. There might still be a- legacy of the post-war boom and depression, especially in regard to land values and rentals, but generally the country was fairly in the way of prosperity Compared with the difficulties under which Britain was labouring, the Dominion was very lucky indeed and'those who were inclined to grumble Sir Hector advised to spend a little time on the other side of the world. After a study of conditions there, they would be glad to return to New Zealand and to rejoice in a land which Nature seemed to have especially favoured.