WAIKAREMOANA.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 11689, 24 February 1902, Page 3

WAIKAREMOANA.

A GEM IN A RUGGED SETTING,

'• The Wanganui river, beautiful as it is, is not a circumstance to it." . That I was the opinion expressed recently to a ' Times" reporter by Mr T. E. Donne, Superintendent of Tourist and Health Resorts, in regard to' Lake Waikaremoana, from which l he has just returned. Waikaremoana is a lake 30 miles inland from Wairoa, a township on the south-east coast of Hawke's Bay. It is, apparently, one of nature's rarest gems set amongst romantic and picturesque surroundings. The country round about is too rugged for settlement. Therefore it has remained, clothed profusely with virgin bush, which, in itself, has prove# a sanctuary for fauna of every description. Not only have the native birds in great numbers made the locality their habitat, but the English pheasant and the Californian quail have retired to its solitude, and free, as yet, from the intrusions' of the stoat and the weasal, have increased and multiplied in a gratifying way. On the bosom of the lake itself great flocks of swan and duck have found congenial solitude ; at least they had up to the time of Mr Donne's visit, when, with the idea of [ securing a few black swan " flappers " for the ponds at the Rotorua Sanatorium, that gentleman and Mr Moorhouse, an official of the Tourist Department, gave chase to some of the flocks, and had an exciting time in a Maori canoe. Red deer have also made themselves at home in the country round Waikaremoana, and the roadmen report having seen an occasional 'possum scuttling along the branches of the trees. Trout have domiciled themselves in the lakes and the streams in the vicinity, and on fine days shoals of them—great, big fellows—may be seem basking in the shallows of Waiknreiti, Waikareimoana's younger sister. Waikaremoana lies at a great height above sea level, as though iii the hollow of a giant's wrinkled' upraised hand. In some places it is over 800 feet deep. In others, where huge, gaping fissures exist, the depth has not been ascertained. The result of this elevation is that the river, which issues from the lake, tears through the country at a tremendous rate in a succession of magnificent falls. There is enough power going to waste there to supply motive power for the whole of New Zealand. The/result is that the traveller in those parts is treated to some marvellous scenic effects. Mr Donne believes that when its beauties become known, and the facilities for reaching it are improved and an accommodation house built. Waikaremoana will become the Mecca, of tourists from far and near. It is to be hoped .that they will also prohibit the destruction of native game, such as the kuku, the kaka and the tni, within its limits. To permit promiscuous shooting there would be to encourage vandalism of the most detestable kind. A road has been made round the lake, which can also be approached from Napier and Wairoa by coach, and which will presently be accessible from Rotorua, when a. track 12 mi'es in length has been completed. While at Waikaremoana. Mr Donne pegged out the site of an accommodation house on a spot commanding an excellent view of the lake and its surroundings.