HAURAKI PENINSULA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15549, 5 March 1914, Page 9

HAURAKI PENINSULA.

ROMANCE OF KENNEDY'S BAY.

OVER THE TOKATEA PASS.

-MAGNIFICENT PANORAMAS;

NO. VI.

[by OUE , special commissioner.]

Kennedy's Bay is quite an interesting and romantic place. A bold peninsula of volcanic rocks with steep cliffs and fantas-tically-shaped bluffs shelters it from northerly winds, and to the southward long hill spurs help to close it in again6t the westerly gales. The beach is fringed with sand dunes, and at the back of the dunes is a big flat through which wander shallow tidal creeks. These creeks have their exit in the north-west corner of the bay, through a narrow channel between banks of sand and shell, and here the tides in there ebb and flow run swift and strong as anyone will find to his cost if he tries the ford any time except nt low water.

The bay was famous at one time for its great timber industries, and one sees everywhere evidences in the shape of decaying tramways, old booms and stranded logs, and if one ventures inland one can find still in creek bed and deep ravine remnants of driving dams and skidded logging-ways. In the steep hills at the back, which rise from sharply-cut spurs and ridges two thousand feet or more above sea level, is rough country which promised at one time many a rich mine for the Auckland public; but the promises of gold yields were not fulfilled. Perhaps Mr. Alexander McKay, the Government geologist, was right whfen he said that the large reefs were too poor and the rich leaders too small for profitable working. Still I have seen so many promising shows of gold in this locality that I have hopes that when the dense bush is swefpt away by the settlers' axe and fires, discoveries will yet be made. How can anyone who has seen the fine surface shows of loose gold up the Whareroa or the Maitaitirangi Creeks, or who has watched the miners sluicing rich specimens from the bed of the Waikoromiko, fail to believe that this country has not yet revealed its treasures even to those daring and persistent prosspectors who invaded the bay in the late , "eighties."

Breaklng-ln Sich Flats.

The big .flat, once a wilderness of manuka, is now laid Off into snug dairy farms, and the old Maori pa which stood on the sandy point by the estuary has been turned into a model village by the New Church, though one or two of the old whares are yet standing under the giant pohutakawa trees. Grass has been spread up the numerous narrow valleys, and the tinkle of the cow bell mingles with the notes of the tui, but at present little has been done to cultivate the soil or to turn the hill lands into pasture. There is, however, such an extent of rich alluvial flats and so much easy hill country, and the locality is so sheltered from cold winds, and so open to the sea breezes and the sun, that I feel sure it will continue to develop its growing dairying industry and in time run a dairy factory of its own. The bay, as it is familiarly called, is already an attractive place, and its settlers —Messrs. Matthews, Hovcll, Thwaites, and othersare doing good work in making it productive and in stocking it with well-bred cattle, whilst its Maori landowners are setting a fine example to their fellows in other parts of New Zealand. I liked Kennedy's Bay in the wild old boom times; I like it still better now when I see it growing into a pleasant farming district, and I am sure that when it becomes more closely settled and more intensively cultivated it will be an exceedingly attractive place. The Tokatea Road. The road from Kennedy's Bay to Coromandel is one of the most romantic of New Zealand's many romantic roads. In a length of about eight miles or, less it rises 1400 ft. and descends to sea level again. For some distance it follows the course of the beautiful Haratauaga Creek,' and then winds steeply up the side of a great ravine, in places becoming a mere ledge on the face of precipitous bluffs. The grade, I am told, is one in five for considerable distances, and yet over this mountain road one of the Denize Brothers drives the cream cart. I doubt whether v cream or anything else is carted over a more dangerous or difficult road in New Zealand. I thought that riding by that coastal track along the western cliffs, where the #ocky ledge barely 2ft wide in places, hangs hundreds of feet above the boulder strewn, beach, offered, one magnificent viewß, but the Tokatea track surpasses it. As one toils up the eastern ascent one can look down into veritable canyons, and there are panoramas to the eastward of ocean and wild coastline, of massed hills and that marvellous carving of spur and peak and ridge, which is so marked a feature of the Hauraki Peninsula. Magnificent Scenery. _ From the Tokatea Saddle, a famous pass in the main dividing ranges, one can look down on firth and gulf, on islands innumerable, on the harbours of Coromanael and Manaia, and, in the distance, the fair coastline of the Auckland Peninsula, and the beautiful contours of the country toward the Waikato. I wonder more people do not spend their holidays in. this Hauraki country. The voyage to Coromandel is only a matter of a few hours, through beautiful waterways, and there are scores of rare walks and rides to be had, and the interest of goldmining and timber working. and the breaking in of virgin country to sheep run and dairy farm.

It was blowing a small gale when I rode through the gap on the summit of Tokatea, and I looked for shelter and refreshment to the old friendly hotel which once stood there, and which was said to have sold more long beers, in proportion, to its trade, than any other house in New Zealand, but it has disappeared, and it* great kauri slab counter, carved.with many a name, no longer offers support to the tired climber. .Miners huts still stand perched on dangerous ledges, but the tipheads at the numerous tunnels are becoming overgrown. Only here and there does one see the clean, grey rock, which shows that miners are still burrowing into the hill for elusive reefs. The batteries on the mountain side are silent, and the sheep grazing on the thick, short grass of the summit seem to be the only live things visible. Evidently the glory has departed from golden Tokatea, but how could one expect any treasure to be left in a narrow ridge so honeycombed with -tunnels and drives?

Coromandel to Mercury Bay.

By the time I had ridden down the steep descent from the Tokatea saddle to Coromandel, my horse and myself were getting tired. The Peninsula tracks are by no means suited for easy riding, and it is a big climb for a horse between, Matamataherekeke and Kennedy's Bay, and between the bay and Coromandel. I got a fre*h horse nest morning, and set off for Mercury Bay, via the Tiki Road and the Waiau River. This road is one of the main highways between the eastern and western sides of the Hauraki Peninsula, and is well graded and well macadamised. It rises in a few miles to an altitude of 1150 ft, and descends again just as abruptly. Vehicles use it frequently, and a mail coach traverses it twice a "week. On the Coromandel side the road follows the south bank of the Waiau River, on the eastern side it is confined to the Mahakirau, passing through fine gorge and mountain scenery for some miles. There is settlement on each side of it all the

way, and wherever grass has been sown on the bush clearings there is good pasture.! Paspalum is thriving well on the summit of the main range, and all the leading English grasses seem to grow luxuriantly. It is when the Mahakirau opens out into the big flats which surround Mercury Bay that one sees how much fine land tliere is available for dairying and cropping in this part of New Zealand v - A gentleman, who is one of the best of" authorities, told me that he estimated that there were fully 10,000 acres of level land in the Mercury Bay watershed, and after my recent explorations, I am inclined to think this is a conservative estimate. It certainly does not take into account any of the easy slopes or low hills which are ploughable. What area of hill land there is between Coromandel and Mercury Bay, which can be made into sheep pasture when the bush is cleared, uo one can definitely measure, but there must be within reasonable distance of the road I travelled, scores of thousands of acres, most of it over a sheep to the acre country. Enterprising County Councils. In my previous articles I may. by describing some of the little-used and out-of-the-way tracks, have given the impression that the Hauraki Peninsula is badly roaded. This is not the case. The country is mountainous and rugged to a remarkable degree, and the engineering difficulties are enormous, but the Coromandel and Thames County Councils have always been progressive and enterprising bodies, .and in road making they set a magnificant example to many other county councils in the Auckland Province. The boldness of some of the work is, remarkable, and I am continually surprised at the skill shown in taking roads and tracks over most difficult places.