Kaitaia's Carnival

Northern Advocate, 17 March 1939, Page 6

Kaitaia's Carnival

THE Kaitaia carnival and shopping week, which opened today, does not merely concern the people, of Kaitaia and district. It is a matter of wider interest, and concerns the people of Northland as a whole, that a small but progressive community should express its vitality and enterprise in this way. ’ There are some settlements which are content to pursue the even tenor of their way, drowsing in the sun, and taking business when it comes to them. Kaitaia has never been one of these. Even when it was practically the Cinderella town of New Zealand, grievously handicapped by isolation and lack of reliable communication with larger centres, it asserted itself vigorously, and never lost any opportunity to remind the rest of New Zealand of its existence.

Today, the former disadvantages under which Kaitaia laboured for so long are gradually disappearing. Roads which are good by the former standards and certainly give access in all weathers, even though far below the main highway standard in other parts of the Dominion, connect it with Kaikohe and Whangarei. Regular shipping services ply to the port of Awanui. A new road has been built along the coast to Mangonui, and a modern road following the extreme northern peninsula is planned. A modern aerodrome, too, is being constructed in the district, which is now recognised to be of extreme importance in New Zealand’s defence plan. To endow Kaitaia with all the major requirements of a progressive district, only one thing is lacking—electric power—but the time is drawing near when that, too, Aviil be available, and will remove the Far North’s last serious disability. In the meantime, the people of Kaitaia are not content to let the grass grow under their feet, and the shopping week carnival is evidence of their progressive spirit. The town is the centre of a wide and fertile district and the attractions of the next few days give even the most outlying settlers a strong inducement to go to town, meet their friends, and transact their business in a congenial and happy atmosphere.