HEALTH AND PLEASURE RESORTS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13875, 12 April 1907, Page 3

HEALTH AND PLEASURE RESORTS.

FEATURES 07 THE TAIERI RIVER AND WAIIIOLA. [Contributed.] It is _ necessary for our health that wo should indulge in healthy recreation; that, I think, will be freely admitted by all. Brainworker and handworker alike require rest and enjoyment; the human machine emmot be worked continuously and at high pressure without grave risk of complete breakdown, and therefore it is a live question how wo can best avail ourselves of the advantages bestowed by Nature. I say Nature, because I count it no veal relaxation to, sit for hours in tho hot' and vitiated atmosphere of our theatres. Tho eye may be pleased and the car gratified by some passing show, but that is not the recreation that, benefits mind and body alike; for that-we must all turn to Nature and lier bounteous gifts. The finest tonio .any man can take is change of air.' In 1 Dunedin we breathe an atmosphere laden with brine, and naturally for a completo change we should go inland, but here a grave question presents itself, and that is that wo have to travel many miles into the interior before we reach a locality where a' pleasure-seeker can occupy his time in,little excursions of interest indulged in at a moderate cost, and as tho average holiday-maker has limited time and means tho expense and delay of long-distance travel has io bo reckoned with. Portobello and Broad Bay are both charming placcs, but. they are open to the objection that there is no change of air from Dunedin. Tho like applies to Waitati and Warrington. Tho first place where yoti breathe the inland air is Mosgiel. Once you cross Saddle Ilill the difference in the air is most noticeable—it is tighter and you lose thp salt air. Mcsgicl, however, has not many charms for the holiday-maker who desires to get. into the country. As a residential centre it will yet become most, popular, Outram has for its attraction the Glen, and although this a .pretty tittle spot its area is limited, and one party fills it. Outram. moreover, lies too far to the west, and the high hills behind it attract any bad weather there may bo about, and I have seen Outram swept by squall after 6quall without a drop of rain falling at Riccarlon and Allanton. Tho air becomes lighter the further south you go until you reach Clarendon, and, I think, it is noticeably lighter on tho cast side of the plain than on the west—a peculiarity that I account for by the shelter afforded by tile range of bills between the Main South road and the sea. This brings 1110 to the Taieri River, and to the best recreation ground within easy distance of Dunedin—to .a locality , deserving of strict conservation by tho Government. I undertake to say that very few of your readers realise how beautiful tho threo-milo stretch through the gorge really is—[or it is not tho sccnory as viewed from a passing boat. I value so much as the many beautiful gullies 011 tho bank?—in these, a few yaj-ds from tho river, you find yourself in a beautiful bush, not a heavy bush, of course, but a truo bush all the same, with glimpces of rook-bound hills and wrfecr. solitude. They arc inaccossiblo to tho general public because they aro difficult of access, but an expenditure of a few pounds would provide rude but efficient landing-places at every one of them, and a. more ideal playground for our people could not bo imagined. I would like to see tho Government tako botli sides of the rivor for about three miles as a scenic reserve, and if the Railway Department would afford special facilities for traffic at a special tariff all could enjoy a spot that is familiar to a comparatively few. Waihola and Henley could become twin ccntrce for the traffic, for both those places arc attractive. . In tho first place, they afford a completo cliango of air; then from either of thorn one can be on tho hills in five minutes. Shooting and fishing can bo bad for those who look for sport, and in this connection I greatly desire to see Waihola and Waipori Lakcfi and tho river thence to tho sea declared a sanctuary for wild fowl. How charming it would bo to. see flocks of ducks and swans scattered over this ideal brecding-place! At present the birds arc so seared that tho shooting is of the poorest, and is limited practically to the opening day, so that it would be no great sacrifice on'the part of tho sporting section of tho district were they to become total abstainers. Moreover, were these waters declared sanctuary the wild fowl would congregate there in such quantities and becomo so tamo that thev would form a very special attraction in themselves. This district has become more popular of late years, but where nni> comes at present ten would come did they realise how benefited they would I* by the chansre to the inland air. A man breathes whilst he lives, and it is manifest that he benefits more by altering and improving the air ho breathes than by any other change.