TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19062, 6 July 1925, Page 8

TONGARIRO NATIONAL PARK.

The.. Tortgariro National Park Board's approval of the principle that the first hostel should be provided by private enterprise is a reasonable decision. It should have been reached long ago. An up-to-date place of accommodation is a first essential in the popularising of the park, yet the board is without adequate funds to provide it. Even were the board sufficiently financial to undertake the task, it. would not follow that the board should attempt it. The principle now endorsed has wide experience to support it, and will no doubt be further justified, in this instance, by results. Before the matter is finalised, however, one aspect of it should have review. Apparently, on the recommendation of the Government architect, a site for the hostel has been chosen —at a point between the Haunted Whare and the Whakapapa huts. But, in view of the decision to give private enterprise its opportunity to build and manage the hostel, there should be given to prospective applicants for the right a voice in the hostel's location. This need not involve opening again the whole question of the site. What is needed is the board's selection of several eligible spots within the approved region, the precise location being left for choice when negotiations for the hostel's erection reach their final stage. In this connection, also, it would be well for the board to go further: the leasing of land for the erection of a small general store would add materially to the facilities of the region. A visit to this scenic resort entails the transport of luggage a considerable distance from even the nearest township, and the lightening of that difficulty, by the provision of a store as well as a hostel, would lead many now making holiday along beaten ways to go to the park.