TRIP FOR MOTORISTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20898, 13 June 1931, Page 11

TRIP FOR MOTORISTS.

AN EAST COAST ROUTE. MANY SCENIC ATTRACTIONS. A particularly fine scenic route from Auckland through Howick and Clevedon to Miranda, and thence inland to Pckeno, where the Great South Road is joined, will he made available for motorists by the completion nf a short stretch between Matingarahi and Puanoano on the East Coast, on which work is at present in progress The new formation on the coast between Matingarahi and Puanoano was commenced in November last year bj the Public Works Department, and about 130 relief workers are engaged on the 25 chains still to be completed. Gangs are working from both ends, and it is estimated that the section will be finished in two months' time. The road will then be available for motor traffic ;is soon as the wet weather is over. Two ffno-concrete and 6tone bridges are being built over streams in this section. During the past five yeai; various portions of road have been built hetween Kaiaua and the Orere Valley, and the completion of the present section will open new country. As an alternative road to the Thames, the route has little to recommend it to the commercial driver, but to a motorist who is in no particular hurry, and can afford to wait until weather conditions are such that the urimetalled portion is sure to be in good order, the new road offers many attractions. The route likely to be followed by motorists wishing to make the round trip will bo from Auckland, through Ellerslie, Howick, Whit ford, Brookby, and Clevedon. to Kawakawa Bay, and along the winding road over tlx' hills to Orere. From Matingarahi a fine view of the Coromandel Ranges is to be obtained, and the road then follows the coast-line to Kaiaua. From here, motorists may either continue south to Miranda and then strike inland, or leave the coast and pass through Mangatangi on the way to Pokeno. The alternative roads join a few j miles to the east of the Paeroa-Thames turn-off, and in each case the Great South Road is joined at Pokeno and followed back through Papakura to Auckland. The distance is approximately 115 miles, and should be covered easily in four to five hours by tho average motoiist on a non-s;op run.