KAWHIA-BY-THE-SEA

Waikato Independent, Volume XXXV, Issue 3265, 5 February 1935, Page 3

KAWHIA- BY-THE-SEA

ITS UNSPOILED ISOLATION CAMBRIDGE VISITOR'S IMPRESSIONS A party of Cambridge residents who made the trip to Kawhia this Avcek were surprised to note the greenness of t'ae countryside once Te Awamutu was left behind. Apparently the proximity of Pirongia Mountain and the hills beyond has a beneficial effect on the rainfall. The road up and over the range of hills and down to sea-level the other side litis a wonderful beauty. It winds and unwinds, rises and falls over a distance of about thirty miles with scarcely a chain of continuously straight or level road. The surface is excellent and would be in all weathers, the scenery is lovely and varied, with long views and near vistas of constant change and charm. Prom one point high up and still more than twenty miles from Kawhia there is a wonderful panorama of the whole harbour and headlands, with the open sea inciting into the sky in the dim distance. Approaching the township the last few miles of road skirt the harbour right at the water's edge, then over a little hill and down to the wharf in the centre of the township. Kawhia has always been "on the 'map" to every New Zealander since geography lessons at school, and the first impression to a new arrival is one of surprise at the tiny place it is, yet considering its isolation and the nature of the country round about —nothing but bush-clad or scrub-covered hills—it is not to be wondered at. The business premises front right on to the black sandy beach, a most happy arrangement, for that beach is a pleasant place on a hot afternoon and bathing and swimming are easy and safe in that quiet sheltered harbour. One interesting building that held pride of place on the waterfront was the printing office of the "Kawhia Settler," a four-page weekly journal that is no doubt eagerly perused for news of all the district happenings, and social chit-chat about the visitors in the line of beach cottages along the shore. A chat with the editor-proprietor proved there, is no place like Kawhia-by-the-Sea. and truly it is a pretty and pleasant place for a quiet and restful holiday.