SCENIC GRANDEUR

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1932, Page 5

SCENIC GRANDEUR

.NEW PLYMOUTH ROAD. £. PLAIN, MOUNTAIN, SEASCAPE.; A> ten-mile stretch -offroad, affording . constant glimpses of changing beatity.A “ and grandeur, of- hill, plain, mountain. . \ and .seascape—a route making possible’ •■.■'< a saving of seven, miles and obviating ■,.£ ■ the climb and descent of Mount ger—has been forgotten by administrators and officials, says the Auckland < Star. That is the road between Puke- b, aruhe and Tongaporutu, parallel with the foaming breakers of the historic White . . ■ Cliffs on tha main Auckland-New mouth highway. It is the road trodden Dy Te Rauparaha and his follower*,' surveyed many years afterwards arid forgotten all the years since. . ‘ There are few roads' in New Zea-

land that can provide more awe-in-Spiring vistas. The route has been surveyed for many years, but never has it been pushed beyond surveyors’ pegs. 4 There are many reasons why it should be made real with relief labour, following completion 'of the Stratford Main Trunk railway. The distance from Awakino to New Plymouth, via Mount '■ Messenger, is 60 miles. The distance through via Tongaporutu and Pukearuhe would be 52—a difference of seven or eight miles. The present state of the proposed new. route is fit only for stock-driving, has been used for that purpose for many, . years, varied by a ride along the beach for part of the way. The route runs ...H through the Parininihi tunnel, cut through a papa promontory 3i mile* from Pukearuhe, and thence upon the tableland of Gibbs’ . Estate , to porutu. ’ Metal and shingle abound in tha. .. ? -£ locality, being obtainable from the beach and the streams. One gang could commence at Tongaporutu. and .work south-. wards, a second at the Parininihi working towards Pukearuhe, another at , : the Waipingau Stream, midway between • Parininihi and Pukearuhe, workm*-/. northwards, and a fourth at the Puke- ' aruhe end, working towards the Waipingau Stream, where is located a good camping ground." ' v " ? ' Mount Messenger is subject , to heavy . traffic at this season of the year, until : Easter, there being loads of wool and . ?• lambs to deposit' at- Waiters. works by double-decker motor lorries. >. In addition, the opening of the new road will increase the traffic. . It is to be hoped that this work be considered by tha Public Worka ;g> Department or the Unemployment -p ; Board as a national work, and that cumstances will be" favourable ’ for. its, completion. Those who are familiar with the locality consider that it would make one of the finest drive® to b« found in any country. " S ■: ■ ' ■- . +1 s* r - 1 ,11 ’u/wwl®