SCENERY AND TRAVEL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1511, 14 February 1901, Page 16

SCENERY AND TRAVEL.

(.To the Editor.)

During my present visi£-,to colony, I noticed in your isfsne'" of the Bth inst. the report of an interview with the Hon J. G. Ward on the subject of the pleasure resorts of New Zealand. As 1 am practically ail outsider, any expressions from me may be regarded as presumptuous ; nevertheless, as I have, during the course of about a dozeii or more visits, seen almost tlie whole of the sights you have to show, I venture to think I am qualified t-o offer an opinion on the subject. It appears to me that New Zealand has not yet awakened to the fact that, she possesses a valuable asset in her extraordinary collection of natural bea.uti.es and phenomena, and that her material prosperity will in great measure depend on the extent to which are mane accessible and attractive, ivlr Wards proposed action conies none too soon,tor visitors are not pleased with the expense and inconvenience to which tl} e y y re sometimes subjected. To begin with V.otoma. Txie dusty train journey from Auckland occupies too much time. The postal facilities, too, are capable of improvement. A passenger can leave Rotorua on M-oncte- morning and catch the steamer leaving Auckland for Sydney on the same afternoon; but a letter must ue posted on the preceding Friday evening to go by the same opportunity. The new and obnoxious battling arrangements are, I observe, to be modified so that I need not dwell upon them.

Then observe the expense entailed in viewing the sights. The most pleasant trip I know at Rotorua is to the Hamuuawa Spring, thence by the Ohau channel through Lake Rotoiti, and then back by way of Tikitere. This can be easily accomplished in a day; but what is the cost ? To begin with, the lunch t a -ken from the xiotel has to be paid for at the rate of 2s 6d, although it is charged for a second time in the hotel daily rate. The steamer and coach fare is 255. There is a -Maori toll of 2s 6d for landing, and a’ toll of 2s at Tikitere. This makes a total cf 325, exclusive of cue hotel charge for the day’s residence. Pleasure at this rate is" a somewhat expensive luxury. Now, since the destruction of the Terraces, the best views in the thermal districts are at- the Wairakei, s'et a visit to the Wairakei Valley in the morning and to the Arateatea Rapids (the finest water view after Niagara in the world) in the afternoon costs 9s. This charge is quite sufficient, but hv the .side of that made at Rotorua, it is decidedly cheap. Again. I fail to see why the Government .should be so tender of the native conscience as to allow 4s t° he charged by an indolent Maori for a sight of Wai-o-Tapu.

I should hesitate about paying a second visit to Mount Cook (where the accommodation is good and cheap, and where the scenery beggars description) through the difficulties of transit ana the want of proper accommodation at Pukaki. Te Anau and Manapouri might be rendered increasingly attractive if there were good steamers on the lakes and proper accommodation provided. I might extend these remarks almost indefinitely, but I fear to trespass on 3 T our space. I cannot, horvever, conclude without asking why the traveller should not be alowed to purchase wines or spirits oil the desert route from . Toliaanu to Pipiriki? Take Waioru, for example, where one has to spend a night. There is not a resident within ten miles, so that the vending cf “distilled damnation ” could scarcely demoralise the neighbourhood. The grant of a license at a low price tvould greatly consult 'the convenience of the traveller. I am quite willing that the teetotal bigot who cannot take a glass of liquor without making a beast of himself should be allowed to remain an abstainer, but why should he compel me to be one also P This intolerance is on a level with that which persecuted Galileo and Bruno, and which preserved for so long the refined cruelties of the Inquisition. The press reports of the last few days, too, show that this prohibition craze is in New Zealand, as elsewhere, creating a. new crime, and breeding a new class of criminals. As a native of this beautiful colony, and a frequent visitor to it, I am actuated only by a desire to see this splendid national asset utilised to the fullest extent, and this must be my excuse for addressing you. Faithfully yours, RICHARD TEECE, General Manager A.M.P. Society.