A PLACE OF QUIETUDE

Taranaki Daily News, 11 July 1929, Page 17

A PLACE OF QUIETUDE

EGMONT AS TOURIST RESORT

PROGRESS OF STRATFORD SIDE.

ROAD AM) HOUSE IMPROVEMENTS.

i High on the glorious slopes of Mt. Egmont there is a place of quietude where health and happiness abound, and where enchanting walks lead to higher altitudes , from which a panoramic view rivalled by few in New Zealand can be obtained. What, one might well ask, is. this gift from Nature to ungrateful man? A thirty minutes’ motor run along the Pembroke Road from Stratford brings enlightenment, when the situation of the Stratford mountain house is unfolded to the motorist at the end of the three-mile trip through beautiful native bush which towers above the mountain house road, forming a fitting foreground for the snow-clad peak that pierces the azure blue some 5000 feet above the house. Here no noise of trains or factories, no hustle of the town or city, no roar of the sea, but just that stillness for which tho busy man longs. Yet in less than I half an hour he can be back in StratI ford on business bent or to enjoy an evening's entertainment. Before bis engine has warmed up again he has returned to his mountain camp surrounded by all the comforts of a modern home. Then rested yet invigorated by the stimulating efi'cct of solitude combined with the change and the pure mountain air, the erstwhile camper returns to his work like a giant refreshed. Surely a holiday fit for the cultured tastes of a king. Nevertheless, in spite of the multitudinous attractions of this beautiful spot and despite the efforts of the Egmont National Park Board East Committee, which controls tho Stratford house and the eastern side of the mountain, to bring this side of- Mt. Egmont into public prominence, it is surprising how few Taranaki people, and especially New Zealanders, have availed themselves of the opportunity to visit the Stratford house and the surrounding mountain side.

TARANAKI’S FUJIYAMA. That in Mt. Egmont Taranaki has one of the most attractive and most beautiful tourist resorts in New Zealand there is not the slightest doubt. Visitors to New Zealand from all parts of the world ate astounded at its beauty and compare it favourably with Fujiyama, that world-famous mountain of Japan, Unfortunately the New Zealand travelling public do not take advantage of the wonderful scenery in their own country to the extent that they should, although every year brings a greater influx of visitors to the mountain, and it is to get as large as possible a share of these | tourists that the east committee has (been striving. Hampered by lack of funds and, until the last few years, by a poorly surfaced track to the house fit to carry vehicular, traffic for only three months out of twelve, the committee has been faced by a stupendous task in its efforts to popularise the Stratford house. But dogged 'perseverance and sound business methods have brought their due reward, and after years of disheartening struggle the realisation of the committee’s dreams has become a definite fact. Last year the road was passable throughout the 12 months, except for lorries in the middle of .winter. Recently the Government granted the committee £5OO for the improvement of this road. The Stratford office of the Public Works Department has the work in hand, and a definite improvement will be effected by next summer. Furthermore the Stratford County Council has commenced the re-metalling and the bitumen surfacing of the six miles of Pembroke Road from Stratford to the radius line, where the reserve road to the house begins.

In addition, the tracks radiating from the house have been improved, new ones have been cut or mapped out, and a car - park has been levelled adjacent to the house. A road route from the house to the plateau has been surveyed and the formation of a motor road to this tableland will mark the culmination of one of the committee’s chief objects. Then may the motorist drive to 4000 feet above sea level.

The Alt. Egmont Alpine Club, with headquarters at Hawcra and an affiliated club at Stratford, has cleared a' skiing I track cii the plateau, where this thrilling winter sport may be indulged in by habitues and beginners alike. To further the interests of the mountain as a tourist resort, and to supervise the necessary building of hostels, roads, tracks, etc., the Egmont National Park Board has been constituted, being comprised of delegates appointed by four committees —north, south, east and west. The east committee, to which is due the credit for the progress that has . been made upon the east or Stratford side of the mountain, consists of Messrs. J. C. Robins (chairman) and P. Thomson (Stratford borough representatives), T. R. Anderson and J. T. Belcher (county), and W. L. Kennedy and C. R. Finnerty i (Whangamomona County).