HOLIDAY MOTORING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20131, 17 December 1928, Page 13

HOLIDAY MOTORING.

*;■ v ■ HAMILTON-TAUPO ROADB. CONDITION GENERALLY GOOD. A FEW ROUGH STRETCHES. [bt telegraph.—own correspondent.! HAMILTON, Sunday. The roadfi leading to the thermal regions of Rotorua and Taupo are for the most part in exceptionally good order. From Hamilton to Rotorua litEle fault can bo found with the road with the exception of a stretch of three miles between Ngongotaha and Rotorua. The metalled surface has been transformed into a series of corrugations which make travelling along it, especially in a light car, a most unpleasant experience. The attention of the grader is urgently needed to make tho road fit for ordinary traffic.

From Rotorua to Taupo the road is in splendid order, especially the 30-mile run from Reparoa to Wairakei, where an almost perfect surface has been formed. Numerous barrels of bitumen deposited on the roadside indicate that the road is being prepared for surfacing with permanent material

A bituinenising process is being carried out between Hamilton and Cambridge and between Taupo and Tokaanu. Attention is required to the road between Lichfield and Atiamuri, the surface having become very rough in recent months. The surface is of a pumice formation, and grading is necessary. Between Matamata and Walton there are three stretches of clay road which motorists have found difficult to negotiate since rain fell last week. Most of the motorists using tho road Have been able to get through on second gear without using chains. TOUR OF THE NORTH. HENDERSON-KUMEU SECTION. A tour of inspection of the western portion of the Northern districts was carried out during the week-end by the touring manager o| the Auckland Automobile Association, mr. R. E. Champtaloup. On his return last evening he reported serious deterioration of the metal surfaces of the Helensville Road, between the end of the concrete at Henderson and Kumeu.

Some time ago a progressive Bcheme of road improvement was submitted to the Automobile Association by the Main Highways Board in response to argent representations concerning the bad condition of this highway. Improved maintenance was apparent for a time, but the surface is again slipping back to its oldtime "pot-holed" condition. Already several months of good road-making weather have gone by and motorists will have a just grievance if they are subjected to undue inconvenience during the coming winter owing to this delay. The touring manager also reports on the Kumeu-Helensville section of the road, which is now in excellent condition, except that some of the loose metal used for maintenance purposes is a little too deep for safety in the vicinity of Waimauku and Reweti. Further north the clay on the main West Coast Road between Helensville and Port Albert was quite dry, with the exception of one mile on the southern end. Chains were required here yesterday morning by northbound traffic, but by the middle of th© afternoon the surface was quite dry. The Automobile Association is advising traffic to and from the North tp use this route,: but issues a warning that serious diffi» culty will bo encountered near the Hoted River Bridge if any rain falls.