SOUTHLAND'S CHARM

Southland Times, Issue 20526, 30 June 1928, Page 11

SOUTHLAND'S CHARM

AN AMERICAN’S IMPRESSIONS. ARTICLE IN THE READING EAGLE. NEW ZEALAND A LAND OF DELIGHT. A short time ago Mr Ira W. Stratton, a former Mayor of Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., toured New Zealand. On his return to his . home city, he wrote a series of articles for The Reading Eagle. His article on Otago and Southland was sent by him to Mr. Gordon Reed, whom he met during his tour, and through Mr Reed’s courtesy we are able to reproduce several interesting paragraphs of Mr Stratton’s. impressions of the southern part of New Zealand. On the page in which the article appears in the Reading Eagle are four excellently reproduced photographs. One is of the Dunedin railway station, one of Milford Sound, one of Dog Island lighthouse and one of the Invercargill public gardens. Obviously Southland is getting excellent publicity in at least one city in America. QUEENSTOWN TO DUNEDIN. Mr. Stratton’s article commences with his journey from Queenstown to Dunedin. He writes:—lt is the element of surprise that constitutes the pleasure of sight seeing. At Queenstown, New Zealand, the Dominion Government has established and maintains, on a neck of land that juts out into Lake Wakatipu, a “Garden of Eden”—Soldiers’ Memorial Park, for the tired, jaded and weary, and also the holiday seeker. Along the road leading to the park, a children’s playground was full of activity. Connected with it, and moored to the shore, were a number of floating dressing booths surrounding a large bathing pool of lake water. On the top of the gateway entrance to the park is inscribed, “Service Above Self.” On the side pillars are long lists of names, alphabetically arranged, of those from Queenstown who were in the World War. In the park are found many native trees and. specimens from all over the world. We actually saw a real chestnut tree with filled nut burrs on it. The

blight in our homeland has made this almost a curiosity. Beautiful flower beds, blooming shrubbery, vine and flower-cover-ed rockeries, an artificial lake with water lilies and a fountain, bowling greens, croquet grounds, tennis courts, band stand, kiosk tea room, grassy lawns, benches and shaded walks added to the comfort and joy of the people. On the far point of the land was placed a large glacial boulder with white marble tablets and five stars inset thereon. It was erected through the kindly interest of an old lady in memory of Captain Robert F. Scott and his compan-

ions, who lost their lives on the AntarcticSouth Pole expedition. They had been frequenters of this section in the days of rheir preparation for the voyage. We left Queenstown on the Government operated boat for Kingston, 25 miles, stopping at several places for mail and passengers. The early morning; the cool, clear, ieep water, and the range of snow-clad mountains —“The Remarkables” —near the shore line, made it a delightful trip. Kingston, a place of a few houses, is the terminus of the railroad and here we made our connection for the 199 mile run to Dunedin. Just as the train was pulling out a special if 14 cars —over 400 people—from Invercargill, arrived for an outing on the lake. At Lumsden, a branch line ran to Lake Te Anau. Crossing the lake you came to :he Milford Sound Track. Arriving at Goss (obviously Gore) we came on the main trunk line of the railroad. We had left the mountainous sheep-raising section and the barley crops near the lake districts and were down on the cultivated plains of Southland and Otago. Dairy farms, fruit orchards, vineyards,' grain fields, fine streams of water, splendid .trees, made a pleasing scene and spoke of a prosperous life. Balclutha, a town only a few years old, showed evidence of growth and progress. Mosgiel, nine miles from Dunedin, is the home of large woollen mills. The Mosgiel rugs are of superior quality. It was evening when we reached the Dun edin railroad station. This is one of the largest and best built stations in the Dominion. Then follows a long description of Dun edin—its educational institutions, its his tory and its beauty spots. INVERCARGILL. Southland's capital then comes under the writer’s notice. A railroad journey of 139 miles takes you to Invercargill, the city and capital of Southland. It has a population of about 22,000 people and is distinctively Scotch. The first settlers arrived in 1855. The first town board met in 1861. It was in 1876 that this section finally severed official connections with Dunedin. In age it is quite a youngster, but a lusty and growing one. It benefited by the experience of others. Its streets are wide and run at right angles. They are named after the rivers in Scotland —Dee, Tay, Clyde and others.

The engineer and planners, in their wisdom and with foresight, plotted the city plan with a reservation belt around the city lots, a block or more wide. This provides for recreation fields, playgrounds and parks, free for public use. Victoria Park of 200 acres has two acres in rose and rhododendron gardens, also golf links, groves of fine trees and sports fields.

Puni creek finds a course through the city. Beautifully parked public gardens, one mile long, on both sides slope back from its banks. The open plot in the centre of the city is called “The Crescent.” There are many fine buildings and large stores. Much business is done here, due to the rich agricultural district and the seaport of Bluff. Residences are built on plots with gardens surrounding them. Nearly every householder owns his own home.

The water supply is from artesian wells. A large, high water tower gives the pressure for the distribution. It is a landmark and the view from its top extends for many miles. We enjoyed the food and cooking found here. A lunch of hot chocolate, cold meats, buns and butter, pastry and delicious, real cream cost 25 cents. Invercargill is an inland city, although an estuary of the sea touches one side of it. Its port is Bluff, 17 miles to the south, connected by steam railroad. Bluff has been a busy place ever since the days of the early whalers, about 1837. One writer says that “it was quite characteristic of the perfervidium ingenium Scotorum of the Scottish community of Southland to name the seaport Campbelltown.” This name endured for a few years, and then it came back to its universally known name— Bluff. The farthest south railroad station in the world is here. Bluff oysters found in the waters of Foveaux Strait are famous throughout the South Seas countries. Concrete docks, custom house, large warehouses, etc., are located here. Considerable business is done. The population is small. The town is on a hillside. Stewart Island, 22 miles to the south, is a two-hour boat run across the Strait. The Maoris called it Rakiura—“lsle of the Glowing Skies.” It is 39 miles long and about 20 miles wide, with an area of 660 square miles. For a summer outing it is very romantic, in its wild, picturesque primitiveness. The Norwegian whalers, who operate in and about the far Ross Sea in the Antarctic region, make Paterson Inlet, Stewart Island, their headquarters. Over 500 whales were killed in the summer (our winter) season of 1926-27. Bluff is almost 47 degrees south latitude. It had been our intention to make the trip over the famous ‘‘Milford Track,” advertised as “the finest walk in the world.” WALK OF 33 MILES. The track is a walk of 33 miles, with day and night rest huts along the way, provided by the Dominion Government. The charm of nature in its wild grandeur, as seen on the walk, is said to be without rival. Disagreeable, stormy weather changed our plans. However, we were fortunate to secure passage on a boat bound from Bluff to Australia that detours once a year to run into Milford Sound, i

Passing out of Bluff Harbour and running by Dog Island lighthouse, the ship continued along the bleak mountainous shore of New Zealand. There was some vegetation along the base line and about two-thirds up the mountain sides. We entered the Sound in the early afternoon. It reminded us very much of the Norwegian fjords. The vegetation was more abun dant here. In Norway the mountains wen higher, with snow-capped peaks, and as a result there were more waterfalls. We passed up by Sterling Falls with its three streams and on to Bowen Falls with its great quantity of water. The ship wound in and around until we lost sight of the entrance. Mitre Peak, 5,500 feet high; the Lion, opposite Mitre; Pembroke Peak, 6,710 feet high, and its glaciers; the bulky Sheerdown Mountain and The Narrows were seen and enjoyed as we comfortably lounged on our deck chairs. The Sound is 10 miles long. The ship’s whistle sent out a number of blasts as signals for any possible overland walkers who expected to take passage. Returning out of the Sound we were greeted by a school of playful porpoises. We agreed that nature has been lavish in showering rare beauty and majestic scenes in the regions of Milford Track and Milford Sound. New Zealand is a land of great delight. We shall never forget the pleasures we enjoyed while there.