THE UREWERA COUNTRY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20690, 9 October 1930, Page 15

THE UREWERA COUNTRY

LAKE WAIKAREMOANA ROAD, GREAT SCENIC ROUTE. AUCKLAND MOTORISTS' VISIT. The newly-completed Urewera-Waikare-moana road will be officially opened, from the point of view of the Auckland Automobiles Association, during the Labour; Day week-end, when members of the association will travel through the Urewera to the Government Hostel on the shore 3 of Lake Waikaremoana. it was decided at the annual meeting of the association last evening that members wishing to make the trip will assemble at Rotorua on Saturday, October 25, making the run through the Urewera on the following day. On the Monday the return trip to Auckland will bo made, either via Napier and Taupo, Gisborno and Opotiki, or by way of Rotorua. The ceremony of opening the road will be performed by the president, Mr. A.Grayson, at the top of the Huiarau Range, 3200 ft. above sea-level. Itineraries will be prepared and the association officers will be in attendance to describe the many points of early historic interest and other details. Of particular interest to the motor; owner who is now familiar with the principal resorts, the Rotorua-Wniroa route, which runs through the wild Urewera country and skirts round the shores of the beautiful Lake Waikaremoana, will prove an irresistible attraction during the coming summer. The worst portions of this route have been metalled and it is not anticipated that in the summer months the unmetalled portions will cause any serious trouble. There is practically no clav, most of the surface being of pumice formation. Magniflcent Scenery.

The distance between Wairoa and Kotorua is only 150 miles, bub it must not be thought that this can be covered in an ordinary six hours' journey. The route in places is narrow and almost entirely of a winding nature. The scenery is beyond description, towering mountains clothed in native bush, and the glistening streams in tlio valleys hundreds of feet below. At times the road drops to run beside the stream, with the lofty trees throwing a shadow from overhead and making delightful picnic sites on the little grassy flats.

Within a few miles of joining (he lake irotn the north end there is a wonderful view from the Wairere Bluff. ytanding on the side of the road at the top of the bluff, one can see the lake between 400 ft. and 500 ft. almost directly below. In the distance the arms and inlets, partly bush-covered and partly cleared in the early days by Maori inhabitants, form pleasant contrasts, while away in the background a cleft in tha hills indicates the outlet. It appears " just across the lake," but actually by road it is nearly 15 miles, all of which are crowded with delightful scenes. Benzine consumption is a point to be watched and petrol pumps have now been erected 50 miles from Hotorua and 30 miles from Wairoa on what arc practically the outskirts of the bush country. Motorists will bo well advised to see that their tanks are full before entering the mora or less uninhabited country. Action by Urewera Maoris.

This road traverses tlio vast area of busli-cjnd country between Rotorua and Hawke's Bay. Until last Easter motors could proceed only ns fa/ as Wai-iti, about 70 miles from Rotorua. Up to this point the scenery is very beautiful, and was inspected by hundreds of the mora venturesome type of motorist. The natives of the Urewera, realising the value of a road connection, donated many thousands of acres of land to the Government in consideration of a road being constructed. Progress was slow at first, but during the last few years work has been expedited, and just prior to last Easter tha touring manager of the Auckland Automobile Association drove the first car from Rotorua to Lake Waikaremoana.

The pictures which have appeared from lime to time in the New Zealand Herald and the Auckland Weekly News, give some impression of the extremely beautiful bush, fern, river, mountain atid lake scenery, but no one can fully appreciate this wonderful scenic asset, without actually seeing the everchanging foliage of the dense native bush, and tlio sparkling waters of the streams in the mountain fastnesses of this wild region. After having recently inspected the principal tourist attractions of the South Island, the touring manager of the association stated that, in his opinion tjis route in the Urewera Country was witnout parallel in the Dominion-for its wide range of different classes of scenery. Ha described it as the finest scenic motor; lour in New Zealand. Ihe route follows the main Taupo Road frojn Rotorua for 18 nnles, and then passes "over the higb country of the Keiugnroa Plains before dropping down to run through MuTUpara.. Hill country is then entered, and very, pretty bush is seen beforo reaching Te Wliaiti. -Again there is a period of hill climbing, and the. road winds through a, bush-clad gorge, then tops the Tarananounamu Range; proceeds alongside thfl streams, and enters a clearing in which a number of native settlements add » picturesque touch. Ruatahuna is the site of the post, office, and six miles beyond the newly-formed route begins. Here tha wonders of nature unfold, and for 25 miles the bush flanks the roadside, which at one place reaches the top of the Huiarau. Range at an altitude of 3200 ft., and at others is away down in the valley alongside pretty water-courses. The lake bursts into view 10Q miles from Rotorua, and then for 17 miles the edge of the lake is followed to the outlet, whence the route drops down to Wairoa, in Hawke's Bay.