DUNEDIN AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVI, Issue 31, 23 November 1888, Page 29

DUNEDIN AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.

(By Plebeian.)

THK most popular resort of the citizens of Dunedin is the Bea-side suburb of tit. >Jlair, and its cjntigu ms Dei^ ibour, the Ocean Beach. Both of thes« enjoy a large patropage dvii ig the summer months, with a preponderating preference for St. (Jlair. It is a pretty picture to see the large number of visitors promenading the lovely sandy beach, attired in their many-coloure.d garments and the most recent fashions in tre costumi r's a h id milliner's art. The inevitable masher is also conspicuous among the more sombrely attired sex. In years io come St. Clair will be very p pulous, and a ready the number of excellent dwellings bears witness to its prog r( ss ; but, baing built on the flat, it naturally lacks the essentials of ihe picturesque. Had the adjacent hills been cot,aerved and planted, and footpaths cut round the hills, the value of St. Clair as a sea-aide resort would be iucreased a thousandfold. They are now piivate property, but should never have been sold, and ought decidedly to be repurchased and formed into the St. Clair Park. On the fle hills one could sit and look away out to sea on a calm day, or wben the sky is hidden hy ominous clouds and the storm is raging one could enjoy the sight of the waves lashing themselves into fury against these old weather and sea-beaten rocks which bkirt the hills near St. C:air. The visitor or resident grows tired of the sandy beach, especially at high water, when walking assume *„c laboiioa", and particularly at present, since the advance ot the sea had des'royed the retaining wall which was mide to resist it, aud during its Blow re-conntruction the bsach is not attnctive, while the hills and f.ev never seem to lose their charm ; always inviting ; always charming. The top of this hi 1 pos^ebS' s a sir -ug loruficition, which is intended to sweep i ff ihe sea a hostile m iu-ot-w >r which ma/ at any futun* time have sinister intentions ou the city, which fiom the beach, in only some three mihs distant. The fooi uf ihi hi 1 is asj mouuted with a heavy piece of artillery, while *v jiher is pKnel in the sand bank midway between St. Clair and the Ocean Beach Hotel. Arouud to the right of the battis is a rocky rec-j-s tnatcouH, with a lit ie expense, b« made attractive. Nature has supplied the mateiials — the sea, the rocks, tie hill — and a little plantation is all lhat is required to make tt beam if ul.

The Peninsula is not now as picturesque as it has been in years pone by. The practical settler has an art of app'ying the match ani bringing fire anl <les ruction on bush scenery, and causing green pasture and yellow corn fields to appear lus-tead. Tnis is tie c >se to a large extent on tbe feniusula, where the iaimwr'd life is anjthtng but a bed of rosei. Much tf the original busj, bow. ver, still abounds, and one it amply rewarat d by a ride io Foitobello light alun^ the t.aihour lini, and thtn ascending io ihe top ot i tie bill, wheie you obtain a view of tbe numerous Cum a'- nape mounds tiirown up as if by some volcanic action of ihe past. Here y v have fgain a splendid view e,f the t-ea for milts &• >und, you cm also see thd entrance to the lower harbour, while t'>e oppo ite sde nff jhls a lovi-.y vie*. Mouc Cargill is conspicuous, c jv. led \wtb a den-nj bush which de^ce-ds to the low-lying hills an I ii.c ■ hIo, c . gia lually do<vu to the bbore. On your ieturn io*iiW ids you bignt many mug f.irm In. uses and that magnificent bu 1 v g, ijuiMth'sCsue, A very pi. asant and euj yable day can Ie hpuit in Foil Chauners, wnicb can be reached b_v rail or tv taking the JSfoitn East Val.ey 10a 1 ; il is an excellent walls, and ibe peit/Ju who does nut find an appetite oil tin. 1 rout i musi be hopelessly .past th'j doctoi'a cut\. A.ong tins io*d, too, you ate frtquunily treated to pietty v ew-. From the top of the hill at the juuctiou jou ob aiua wewof uodlyii, stu l right away over Slaon Hill, ' you get fcigut ol Bughtun Be >en iiu t a bit of tie bay wjicLi appears like a pretty lake, while on th 1 ohi r bide the llaibour and Port gradually vi fold ihemsehes to v;ew, and pn-dent a view over which, anywhere els-, one would go into rnpures, but it-ally her' j , where ou every haud the eye ami nnnd «ro fias'eil on ihe beautiful until v almost becomes aionotonous,you debcend to Port and l>'i,g for a ch-inge. All in vaiu, thi scene only changes, w.ta a few snips and steamers thrown iv. The port is a pieiure-que little town and the visitors wonders why the city was not laia out there and spared ibe never ending dredging of the u,>per hai buur, but, all things co is dered, peihaps it 18 n* well where v is. 'Ih-locil aLiti.urni s h,..c devoted ihe piuttitbt ite in t.i< l' u u to the eetn t i\, whic > oveili k-> tnu town and haiootir, and is •<■ t-pot wl cv t c t-ea lov ug p /puiatiou ot the Port lovi- to take their final is, no close to the eiem nt which in life they have loved j-o well, and whose bad music now t-mys v etr airge. Fiom here the Northern line begins io ascend a btiff incline, winding aiuuiid the Sea iioe, a iarp]y turning the sensational Puiakarmi cl.ftb. and en to Pjhuer&t. n. In.' excitement of landslips at the cl fr's baj long wince faded a*ny, Lut tne beauty of this piece of line viewed i rum t lie carna. c Va.f-rni on a lovely spring morning, cannot ets-ily be f >r>_cotte.i N>,r i-. tnete the slightest t-ense of danger us you steidily st am over the cl ffa that overlook ihe Hea, whily on the lai.d bi ie aie i ret y glan. -i&.t. " d witti the usual na ive foiiagi , tuioiijjh v\ inch y' v p.. ss at a pace ;uftioieLitly slow to obaerse the pasßin^ diuiama. 'Ihj town ot Hosgnl, somo nin<. or ten milei from Dimedin, stands on the cei> br..»ed Ta en p ain vv eh s reiehi-s away to Lhk> AVaihe-la ; and long cie you s^cj the i'K'V ul m lely obbei .lug the plain c'n>M-lj h inmod in l>\ th sum un imsj hilis, ihe plain is q. it ' Sugg's ive of a lake, and probably ha*- biti t v oni a> hme ie note time. In times ot he.iv> i.t ninw, > tin ms be* 1 iin. j -übaieit:> .!. it is a ma-jnifici'i t pi* cv oi couMiy. add is m •.> cli g'ou>>us co/itia«t t.j the bids to u'iv>is 1 areu v D.ni üm. Bef re n aching M j-^ie-, tin O:ago Cjiitial ha'jv\ay bran In b (II [„-ia iu^ by (ho lac cour3'', r. ,d away .nto tne mounuuns op t.i lt v, s m excellent la>.d on l s loute, ficim whit b, t v Llual.j ,bo ii(va ben li » „r io l>c ucrivcd. Oi iiu laien plains n.a y ot Dumuliih ci iz i aul t'irt I'Un.'a rt-^i ients had a good tiay's outmg on ihe D n, w eie the lo'ml rocu g club piovuied an excellent piof.'iamme, and tin- weaihei clcik wa-i cnjrteom enough to supply a day in wt icil nothing waa left to bj aehired. Here, m the eld days innocent ot the locomotive, the Dunedin races were held.

I The people fairly thronged the way ; some walked, some rode, and the rest drove in all sorts of conveyances. These were light festive days, when cash was abundant, and everyone went in for thorough enjoyment with all the intensity of a young community. People now take their pleasure more sadly, and these meetings are as orderly as a prayer meeting, not a solitary row, and scarcely even a " drunk." Ihiq, however, must not be taken as an indication of the lack of the wherewithal ; on the contiary, tue totalisator did quite a large business that day, but tha days of excessive drinking have been supplanted by moderation.