Christmas Holiday

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3846, 16 December 1936, Page 28 (Supplement)

Christmas Holiday

THE MOTOR CAMPING PARTY. New Zealand to-day, after an intensive period of road-making, affords many pleasures for the car owner who decides to pass the holiday season a-wheel. There are so many attractions of scenic beauty as well as of the wonders of Nature to claim attention that it is indeed difficult to decide on an itinerary. The development of motor transit has evolved a method of holiday-making that renders it possible to enjoy all the comforts of the home on the broad highway. The camp outfit, compressed into little bulk, can be easily carried, and the location for the night chosen as the spirit moves. All the wonders and charm of the native bush can be enjoyed to the full, and what more entrancing than eventide ’neath the / shades of a giant tree by some rippling stream ? Here are the native birds in all their glory. From the high forest trees the bush pigeons volplane with plumage iridescent in the setting sun; from the tall tawas' comes the clear, liquid gurgle of a tui calling to another white-tufted songster higher up on the hill; anon the glorious note of the bellbird from some forest fastness; the friendly twitter of the fantail amid the koromikos; and always, incessantly, the long-drawn chirp of the cicadas. With the gloaming comes the nocturnal cry of the weka, and as the shades of evening fall the melancholy hoot of the mopoke as it wings a silent way in the darkness to explore forest and ravine. Hundreds of motorists from the Waipa district hie themselves off to the weird and fantastic glories of Waitomo Caves, the glamorous sun and surf of Kawhia. the wonders of Rotorua, the grandeur of the National Park, Tongariro and Taupo, while others content themselves with wandering at will along the highways and byways of New Zealand’s inland beauties. CAMPING AT CHRISTMAS. Did you ever watch the campfire When the wood has fallen low, And the ashes start to whiten ’Round the embers’ crimson glow? With the night sounds all around , you And a full moon high above you That the spell may be complete. Tell me were you ever nearer To the land of heart’s desire Than when you sat there thinking With your feet before the fire? If the dreams of long winter nights come true, thousands will be spending bright, sunny days during Christmas and the New Year at camping places all over the province. They will be doing this while boys and girls in most other countries north of the Equator are revelling in their favourite winter pastimes. For their holidays young New Zealanders prefer the sunshine, and none know better how to live more effectively in the great out-of-doors. They have learned the lessons which have been taught them by the grand old pioneers of last century as well as by * members of the Maori race, and no place in the world is just like New Zealand for camping.