TARIKI.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 10198, 2 January 1895, Page 2

TARIKI.

[fbom a odbkespondent] j Saturday, December 29th, was a red letter day in'the history of Tariki, for on that day our track up the mountain was completed. Horses can now be taken up to the camp which is about the same height up the mountain as the New Plymouth hut. A few years ago the late Mr B. Speck, of Waipuku, conceived the idea of cutting a track up the mountain from there, and with, the assistance of his sons accomplished the task. This track entered the bnsh from the York Road, and had the disadvantage of having to cross a strip of swampy ground that runs round the mountain at that point. The , surveyors afterwards cat a track on the Surrey Road as far as the radius line. This track Mr \V. Earl extendod for another mile where it joined the original track from "Waipuku. Several parties went up the mountain by this route last year, and were so pleased with the track that they resolved to make it fit for horses. This has been done, and we claim that the Tariki track is now the best track up the mountain. It is the nearest point to the railway lino. The grade is a gradual slope from Tariki to the camp. ' There are no gullies or swampy places to cross, and the ascent of the mountain ij accomplished with less fatigue from this point than any other, the track leading directly on •to a hard ridgo between the Stratford and New Plymouth tracks. This ridge is plainly visible just new with the snow on either side of it, and is quite hard right to the top. Those who have climbed the mountain over 2000 ft of loose scoria will appreciate the difference. Several parties are looking forward to accomplishing the ascent this season from Tariki. There is nothing more healthful and invigorating than a few days spent in the bracing air four or five thousand feet above sea level. There are people who go to Switzerland year after year and spending their holidays in roaming over the mountains. We Taranakites are fortunate in having a mountain equal to any of the famous piles in older lands, combined with forest scenery superior to anything in the conventional resorfs of the Continent. We ought to be much prouder of our magnificent mountain than we are.