THROUGH THE WAITAKERES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21972, 1 December 1934, Page 4 (Supplement)

THROUGH THE WAITAKERES

CONSTANCE KEESING (age 17 years), 18 Onslow Road, Mount Albert. From the window of my home I can 6ee range upon range, the misty splendour of the Waitakeres, now blue, now purple, everchanging in the dim shades of distance. How mysterious; how unattainable they seem, and yet, I have looked down from their highest point on the city of Auckland. ' To reach Helensville, one must traverse these ranges, and it is for me, to do all. within my power to make you feel and see the magic of Mother Nature in all her glory as I felt and saw it on my trip to Helensville. As .the car skimmed along the roads the range's gradually lost their misty mystery and grew more pronounced against the skyline; soon we could see the ferns and trees which clothed the elopes, and then, leaving city sounds and scenes far behind, we entered the roads which lead over and among the hills themselves. Who, living in the hustle and bustle of town, could imagine such beauty? •Who would not' gasp with delight as I did, as one by one, were revealed to me, the sights that are only for those ;who seek to find. Well may New Zealand be termed the land of the fern and the kauri. When I see the tall, .stately, monarchs that have seen from their towering lidight, the beginnings and the completions of the cities of today; when' I see the ferns, that cover the slopes, interlacing their delicate fronds with the shrubs and tree roots; then I can imagine what the New Zealand of long ago must have looked like when the brown-skinned Maori lived bis simple life undisturbed by the yisits of the pakeha. When we reached the highest point we stopped the car, that we might inhale the fresh mountain air and admire the view. . On either side a vista of ferns, of trees., reaching up, up into the blue. Far down in the distance the city's church spires and housetops and further still a gleam of sparkling, blue sea.

Resuming our journey, wo passed the sandhills, and then, on and on, the tall pines and kauris, seemingly unending, the ferns and undergrowth still in abundance at their roots. When we entered into the countryside of Helensville, the scrub and ferns gradually gave way to green meadows where cows or sheep grazed contentecUy. And so on until Helensville itself was

reached. The rain that had threatened ns at the start of our journey now began to fall, first in great drops, gradually quickeiflng to a steady downpour. Ah! The ranges in the rain; the tall trees lifting up their branches, as if in thankfulness for the refreshing „ drops; the delicate, groen fern-fronds, glistening with crystal raindrops; the forest flowers raising their drooping heads to drink and revive. And so ? —home. And when I look out my window, though I know the secrets of those fern-clad slopes, though I %{ kave conquered their highest hill, the .iWaitakere Ranges seem to me just aE • \ tauijy: and unattainable as ever.