TARANAKI’S PLAYGROUND.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 November 1934, Page 6

TARANAKI’S PLAYGROUND.

Mount Egmont is so often thought of in terms of the North Egmont, Stratford and Dawson Falls resorts that it is well to remember that this wonderful heritage has other gateways. The excursion to Kahui Hut on Saturday by a party including the chairman of the Egmont Park Board, Mr. F. H. Waters, was an appropriate reminder of tire fact that a western committee is functioning, and controls what may in time be one of the most popular resorts in the reserve. Without detracting in any way from the value of the established hostels and their environment it may be said that the western access and its present modest accommodation house, Kahui Hut, have a charm of their own. Less than five miles by an easy track from the top of Puniho Road and only 25 miles from New Plymouth, the Kahui Hut is the centre of the most .historic and attractive forest-clad reserves in the province. To those interested in the Maori history of Taranaki the Maru pa is surrounded by a wealth of associations, and to everyone the magnificent forest, with its many pretty glades and ferns and its varied bird life must make a special appeal. No matter how hard the day or deep the trouble Nature is a neverfailing refuge. And nowhere more than on the east side of Egmont does she provide in greater measure the peace and serenity that sooner or later, at one time or another, all human beings seek. The time will come when a modem accommodation house at Kahui and vehicular access to it will make it a tourists’ rendezvous. In the meantime last Saturday’s excursion has been of service in drawing public attention to a part of Egmont that has in the past hardly received the attention it deserves.