HOLIDAY IMPRESSIONS OF THE SOUNDS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIV, Issue LIV, 23 February 1920, Page 7

HOLIDAY IMPRESSIONS OF THE SOUNDS

(By the Rev. G. H. Gibb, 33. A. J WANTED.: MORE INFORMATION. The greatest -of our poets has .saiu : ‘•lf .'ill the year were playing holiday.To .sport would be «« tedious as to work." Doubtless this is a true- statement ; but a,s all the year for the average man is a constant, steady grind at porno form of work or other, a. lin: id-ay comes as a most welcome and pleasant change. To the city man —especially in these hot and sultry summer days- - the thought of the open spaces, the heaving ocean, and the c.wfl sea, breeze.is in itself an inspiration- And when tlie holiday is due- and the last piece of work polished off, and the last hag packed, it is worth a. pleasant thi-id of anticipation that he takes up Ins baggage and lunies him on ids way. Same peop’-e prefer an inland boh day, others like to go to the. seaside s me choose the fashionable resorts, others select places far removed ivom air .convention and the artificialities of r in- modern civilisation. I ranu myself among the lovers of the sea. Nut that I can lay claim to any especially good sea-going qualities, tor 1 know the miseries of mal <b,> mer, and can sympathise with those whose cry upon the heiving ocean i- "Oh. my!’ M u'. T-.v.-iVi, ym may vruu-ni’e w. T-si-iii-es this malady in In.-'. "I'llgiims Abroad." The sci'oo.; ..ay they were out at siri. he stood at the gangway door to im gracious, and say "Good morning" to everyone who came up; but one after another a- he met them at the door with "(.'■end morning." snot past, him spre-h'ers, with their hands upon their waists, and all he could get from them was "Oh, mv . Bid, j.., spite of occasional di--com-forts, there is for rnc a strange fascination in the ' ea. All people must have experienced thin .sensation of fascination at some time or mv

other, at; cl' \vitli folk of different temperaments it rt&ume,; varying ;orms. Some people hate the sea.; it wiems to have for them the fascination, of horror. Robert Louis Stevenson, in his story “The- Merry Mon,” de•'evil)es such a character. There is a man in l that weird: tale whose whole and loathes the ocean. This is what he says TTf ye had hut .used, the ■i'll tlod gave ye, ye would has learned the wickedness o’ that farise, earnt, can’d 5 bidJering- creature, and of a’ that's in it by the Lord's permission: lobsters air' narta-us, an’ sic’ like, hawking in the deid; m-nchle gutsy, blawing whales; an’ fish, the hale elan uncanny fellies. 0, sirs.,” he cried. : ‘the hoiTcr—the horror o’ the sea.

Sueli detestation as that, however, is rare. For most peop'e their dislike of the uccv! n . Is occasioned by the discomforts of ret sickness, and not because of the horrors visible and invisible which Turk in its fearsome depths; But my own feelings concerning the ■ocean are far removed from hori'O’’, Though non i too good a sailor. I -g.lad'V rank myself with these who find' a never-failing delight in that mystery of .waters the fever ■shimboring sen.. These things being so, it was little wonder when my holiday was ■due that my step-- shouldwander seawards, and this year they took me to "the Marlborough Sound;-. £t is surprising how little, the majority of Nelson people know about this delightful holiday resort. which lies uractieally -at tiie. doors .Of .the city. One < : f the these .Sounds' possess it TliaT {lie>* tsirfi b<> reached »•> speedily from Nelson. And: yvt when making inquiries about them’ prior to my holiday, J. found that very low people bould give* m?any fenu-ation whatever. The average Nelfioniaiu spends bj«. hoUdjiiyt-.i] l \Vel lington, or stilf‘ further'•a.fihJ’d-* *nfd VtißWiA.; 1 . to ignore these nia.gnifieei.it fiord* winch He only a few hours’ kail from Ids own city. At the various , lodging places one finds'- visitors ‘frdin : all Tarts'* of New Zealand, pud yet Nelson .representatives a.re ccdspicio-'W " hy -their absence. Two years ago Iys]>cni a. holiday at Picton,. and’ haying mentioned where I intended ■ going to two •Nelson people,. X, was do ye.n mem to do at that horrid little place?” Now, Pi etc nis an excellent place for a. holiday, a.s all will- bear witness who have had the gpo ( ] yd' ol '' tune to stay there a.nd the tone- of that remark about Picton seems but to reflect the view of many people a in this place concerning the possibilities of the Sounds as a. holiday resort. 1 wish to state emphatically that the Mar - borough -Sounds offer cue of the finest fields for a. holiday in New Zca.and, provided, of course, that the holidaymaker loves the sea,; aunt that we Nelson people arc- making a. fatal mistake if wo consider that their proximity to our own do;ms -strips them oi theii enchantment. Tt was my lot for throe years to he minister in one of the greatest holiday resorts in the •South Island, to wit, Queenstown and the Cold Lakes district. I therefore Know that district well, ami it is my firm conviction tint the fSounds are equally as good' for holiday purposes. Certainly im the latter place the mighty mountain, scenery is lacking, but the Sounds offer certain, varieties o! entertainment which the Cold Lakes do not possess. One may safely aver that if the ’Government had: interests at stake in, the shops <f boarding homo?, parks, or railway hires, this scenic portion of New Zealand would be much more large’.v advertised than it is at the pres'-nt time. Very 'itt’e in form a. ti -'ii," concerning the. place is available , for the prospective tourist or holidaymaker. und it is only when one comes into contact -with a friend who- has travelled through the district that such knowledge may be gleaned. From time to time during the three years- I have been in Nelson short paragraphs have ap-pearedi in the columns of the Kvcning Mail giimg visiters’ impressions of the Sounds. A few weeks back a member of a yachting party favoured your readers with a few remarks' of an adulating nature, but those, like the other references, were of a. fragmentary cha-i'actci. It Is my intention-, with the permission of the ' editor, to contribute several articles to this paper which may give some much' desired information incoming these parts,‘and perhaps stimulate some greater degree of interest in a. holiday resort which, from the point of view 'of natural beauty and holidaymaking fagilities, is second to none in New Zealand.