A TRIP TO HEREKINO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12524, 17 March 1904, Page 3

A TRIP TO HEREKINO.

[BY itAITAIA COKIVESPONBEXT.] j Havixg heard rumours that Herekino had' taken a new lease of life, and that things were booming over there, I determined, to take the first, opportunity of paying that

settlement a visit. The opportunity came when the Kaitaia president of the Fanners' Union, Mr. T. W. P. Smith asked me and others to attend a meeting at Herekino on Farmers' Union and Medical Club business. Some of the Herekinoites had asked Mr. Smith to go over there and help them to again, form a branch of the union, and to explain the conditions of membership of the Kaitaia. Medical Club. The meeting was held on Saturday evening, February 6. A party of four from —Messrs-. Smith, Hoilis, Bums, and —were present. Two of the party arrived at Herekino about seven p.m., and arranged to stay at Mr. Gardner's lodging-house during their visit. Mr. Gardner's residence,, situated on the hillside.and at the junction of the main roads, is admirably placed for an accommodation house. Everything inside was spick and span, and the meals provided were lit for a king. After doing justice to the tea we sallied forth and paid a visit to Mr. Bunkell's store, just opposite. Mr. Bunkell was one of the original settlers, and after passing through all the vicissitudes of the early settlement, has now a fine large store, and. does a big turnover. The post office business is now in Mr. Bunkell's charge, and he is putting up a further addition, especially for. that work. . .'•' ■"■■;....;.'■ ,\ From the store we strolled on to the meeti ing, which was held in the schoolhouse. J There was a good attendance of settlers. Mr. R. H. Bowman, J.P., was voted to the chair. After Mr. Smith, of Kaitaia, had explained the objects of the union and the medical club a branch of the union was formed, and a number joined the Kaitaia Medical Club. Three cheers for the Kaitaia delegates and a- vote of thanks to the chairman terminated a most successful meeting. That Herekino is making a move forward is self-evident, and as one hears of the early straggles of the first settlers those that have stuck to the place deserve their reward. About 18 years ago seventy families, numbering about two hundred and fifty people, mostly with limited capital and no previous experience of bush life, were brought north to settle at Herekino. Half of them were landed at Ahipara Beach and the remainder at Whangape, Herekino being mid-way between the two places, the would-be settlers having to find their way to the promised land as best they could. There were no roads, so they had" to tramp it, and swag or pack their belongings over Maori tracks a distance of nearly ten miles. What a sight their first view* of Herekino must have been —dense bush from the valley to the summit of the high hills all round, a few survey aud Maori tracks, pegs or sticks with a piece of paper or rag stuck through a slit in the top of them to indicate the boundaries of the different sections. Possibly the tui piped a note of -welcome, the pigeon cooed rather doubtfullv his affectionate regards, while the parakeet flew by with a screech of fright, and the Maoriscourteous, but sorrowful-—, on as the white man made a'lurther encroachment on their domain. Many are the stories of those early days. Of the the seventy families who first settled at Herekino only about eleven now remain; the others, after a few years' struggle, wandered off to the gumfields or back to town or to some other more favoured

locality. Still, settlement has gone on. Roads have : been formed, bush felled, laud laid down in grass, and orchards planted. Four years ago the older settlers saw visions, and the younger ones dreamed dreams. They saw J timber-mills at the edge of the forest, the giant kauri who for hundreds of years, with his stately figure and head erect, had defied time and space, brought low and made to contribute his quota to the wants of civilisation. They saw ships to plough the mighty deep being built on the foreshore of their harbour, fruit-canning factories in full work, a township arising at the junction of the roads, money plentiful, and everyone doing well. To dream was to act, so they floated the Herekino Sawmill and Shipbuilding Company. After the usual preliminary experiences a large timber mill has been put up, shipbuilding being left for future fulfilment. The mill, which is expected to be in full work next month is now owned by the Mitckelson Timber Company. It is a good thing for the settlers that such a strong company has taken up the business; success is assured;. The mill is situated about three miles from Ilerekino, at the entrance to the gorge that leads through the hills '-..to Ahipara. It is estimated that there are thirty i million feet of kauri in sight. A shoot has been made up the hillsides about one mile 1 in length, down which the logs will be sent to'the mill. A tramway has been laid down from the mill to the harbour, along which the timber will be trucked to the boats waiting to load. Already, a large number of bushmen, millhandSi and others are employed by the company. Mr. Tuck is manager, and Mr. Peter Murray, until recently the Herekino. schoolmaster, is secretary. The company intend erecting a mill at Whangape, of which Mr. McLeod, who is already on the spot to superintend its erection, will be manager. ]- \ On Sunday, February 7, we visited some of the prominent settlers. Starting out shortly after breakfast we rode along the road towards Whangape, for about a mile. We then crossed Mr. Bowman's paddocks, in which were plenty of cattle grazing. Riding down towards the harbour we struck out into the mangroves intending to take a short cut to Mr. Kea.y's property. When some distance out we "heard a strong voice calling, "Who goes there? You'll get bogged! Come round this way." So we retraced our steps and got closer into the shore. Here we espied Mr. Chris. Dunn. It was he who had raised the warning voice. Mr. Dunn, a Kaitaia boy, and also a returned trooper, has settled in Herekino, taking over Mr. Craig's property. We had a short argument re the quality of the land hereabout. • Mr. Dunn offered 1 to back me that, a piece of Herekino laud, especially his farm, would fatten more cattle in twelve months than an area of equal size at Kaitaia. We noticed that the grass was plentiful near by, so we accepted Mr. Dunn's statement without further comment. After receiving safe directions we resumed our journey and arrived at Mr. Keay';3 at eleven a.m. Mr. Keay's property is situated on a spur of land that runs right' out into the centre of the harbour, dividing into two arms— Owhiroa on the right, and the Ruhaka on the left. It is on ideal place for a sheep run. The soil is a sandy loam on clay. Grass was knee deep in many places right up to the ridge of the spur-. Corn last season grew ten feet high on the side of the hill. The orchard, though young and exposed to the westerly winds, looked healthy. A large number of vines planted out in rows will soon be bearing. The residence, nestling on the hillside, is surrounded by a beautiful flower-garden, one of the best I "have seen in the Ftir North. For several years past, until the present season, Mr. Keay has been canning mullet and supplying it to the Northern storekeepers. From the top of the spur a splendid view of the harbour was obtained..' To the soiith are the high ranges, rugged and grand in their solitude, that divide the Herekino from the Whangape Harbour. On the north side the hills covered in bush run out to large sandhills towards the entrance of the harbour. Looking out west, the breakers rolling across the bar in all their strength and fury, sparkled and flashed in the sunlight beyond, the Tasman Sea looking calm and serene. Below us, the incoming tide seemed to vie with the sky in its blueness. Turning and looking towards the east were the upper reaches of the harbour,.with hills and valleys beyond, Mount Orowhauga standing out like a sentinel on guard over all. On the top of the spur was once the site of a Maori pa and village, and judging by the quantity of pipi shells about a. large population must have lived there possibly! less than one hundred years ago. If one could roll back the years or time and take a peep at that village what tales of bravery, of victory or defeat, of love and passion, might be luifolded. How the harbour might have resounded with the shout and tramp of the warriors at their war-dance, or the wailing of the women over their dead. 1 How some infatuated lover may have carried off the object of his affections, or some dusky maiden, leaving hex kindred and tribe' forever Hinemoa-like swam across the harbour to the arms of her beloved. How they heard of and discussed the white stranger who was preaching the gospel of love and peace, or the whaler who came ashore and \ did wickedly. 'Enough of looking back;.:let

us move ©a.

After spending two very pleasant hcrais ; *v : . ; ;_- with Mr. Keay and family we set on. i or the Puhaka, intending' to visit some.Austrian settlers there but time, like the tide,- .j ~' was nob waiting, so wo turned our horses toward the settlement again, which is chiefly up the Owhiroa valley. Passing Mr. ' K Young's property, on which a lot of clearing and grassing hasp been done, we pushed on to see Mr. Powell's orchard. On the way thither we met Mr. Vickers, a young and vigorous settler recently from Canterbury, < ' ] : -i who took Us to several of the Austrian vineyards.' Unfortunately the Austrian settlers '|if ;'g were not at home; nevertheless-we went in and inspected the vines. They'are chiefly of the Isabella- variety. Mr. Vickers informed us that much work had been done in preparing the soil, chiefly clay. It had all been dug • over three feet deep. The vines are • ' now several years old, and are just commencing.l to bear. They are staked, and not allowed to grow, more than two or three feet from the ground. At Mr. Rasich's we noticed that the grapes were sprayed with sulphur. Nona of the vineyards we saw exceeded two acres in extent. We next paid Mr. H. C. Powell and his orchard a visit. Here we probably saw the finest orchard in the North acres of alluvial fiat, planted with apple, pear, plum, and peach trees most of them laden with fruit. Fortunately Mi-. Powell has not yet the codlin moth to contend with. Seventeen years ago when Mr. Powell took up bis section ib was all covered with standing bush. The orchard ' is an evidence of his perseverance and industry. Mr. Powell remarked to me that a man who took up a bush section required grit, muscle, and a sharp axe. Further up the valley are the homesteads of Messrs. Vereoe, Baker, La Crosse, Ford, Noble, Viekers and others; bat time did not allow of our visiting them. Every year they are felling bush and getting more land into grass. Such men as these—the pioneers of settlement —are the backbone of the country, and they deserve every encouragement from our Government. The Herekirio settlers are anxious to ■ have telephonio communication with the outside world, and they ought to have it as soon as possible. By way of recreation the settlers have their' ■ cricket club, with a membership of over forty strong. • A dance is held occasionally, and recently they elected a committee to arrange for a public library, and to keep pace with the requirements Mr. Bunkell intends 'erecting a public. balL : ■ As yet there are no regular Sunday services held. Here is an opportunity for some ". well-disposed settler to'use his abilities for the betterment of those around him, especially the children/: During our visit we made the acquaintance of the new schoolmaster, Mr, Squires. , He is evidently well qualified for his position and has full confidence in himself and his mission. Commencing our,return journey at five p.m. we were accompanied by Mr. Alt'. Powell as far as Pukepoto. Leaving Herekino we passed through the native settlement of Manukau. Here we noticed thai; the raupo ■: whare ia giving place to the weather-boarded house. Further on we came to the mill at the entrance of the gorge. As time was: pressing we had to decline the invitation of Mr. Ike Johnson to have tea at the cook-house. We had a look over the mill, and walked .< part way up the shoot'. Resuming our journey through the gorge, all around us was an endless profusion of plant life, from, the giant kauri down to the smallest of ferns, a scene that would delight the botanist. We emerged from the gorge at Wainui. a native settlement near Ahipara,just os the stars began :to twinkle. The rest of our journey was quietly pursued along the Ahi-para-Kaitaia Road, 'arriving home about half-past nine p.m., tired, but delighted with the scenes and people we had visited.