A SPIN TO BRIGHTON.

White Ribbon, Volume 25, Issue 297, 18 March 1920, Page 5

A SPIN TO BRIGHTON.

During the bright, >unn\ way* .1 party of women folk arranged i«»i at* afternoon outing oy motor, and chose a> then destination the seaside* town ship of Brighton. The ride occupied about two hours, and to eadr one <»l the party was crowded full of pleasant expel ienees. The tang in the air made the quick, movement through scenes exliilarat ing, and the picturesqueness of the district was a delight. It i*> a ride which combines both suburban and farm scenes, and has at the end of it '4 splendid run beside the Pacific break ers near the beach and cosy towr.ship. Sea coast, sky, pasture land, laivest field, homely garden, and again the sea; each in turn satisfy the onlooker. What haven f >1 over-wrought town dwellers! To reach this -etluded spot a run of ihree-quarte s of an hour is needed, and to a visitor ir ni < thei districts is full of interest. The re a 1 itself is one of the best, being high and dry, and cent; ining 1 istoric spots, such as the edd turn pike gates, and the junction of i.he road to the quarry The first open glimpse of Biighton gives a peep of a length of pictu resrpie beach, wuh the P..< ific rollers, line after line, breaking in foam on the hard sand which runs back to the flanking sandhills. Along the whole straight line of the sea coast the road runs parallel for the greater part; on the sand the* waves thunder, and hm* with noble white crests, which catch the wind, and then merge into the bordering foam. i he extreme end of the beach is the go&l of the ride, and the centre of interest, for the town ship is some di-tanre past 11 the »n tervening foreground of bridge, graz ing land on the d< pes of valley, hn vest field, and shelt ring belts of t ees, and itself is sheltered by higher hills beyond the pretty varied knolis immediately surrounding it. To approach it one leaves the coast and turns to the right over a low bridge, when the whole of the panorama can b«* seen on mounting a hill and observing from this lovely point of vant age. White s:nds, and plenty of them, stretch along the bay and hack to bordering sandhills, then <*n to massive headlands cut off sheer it the* waters edge. Nearer at hand the slate grev rocks make odd sh p<s of pools, while gushing e ’dies of fo imv tide water still show n lovel\ blue anvwhere where there was space

enough fo be quiet. A contrast P> this tumultuous scene is the peaceful • icck winding down to the beach be tween bank* studd«*d with native cab b :ge trees n *w in full I.loom, and re fleeting in its calm waters the outlines of the fishing boats drawn up in a elusiei neai the* bi ulge. These looked very veil kept and inviting. Ris ing up again on the right t Mid s, do is a high level harvest field, the grain in stook a brilliant yellow agiinsi the blue sea beyon 1. The foreground filled with harvest field, white, winding road, bridge over cieek, which is bordered by small native shrubs, further h.ic k the sea, and overhead a.-ky ■f cloudless blue*; al! these make a s.itisf\ ing picture. To ba<k through the afternoon niight along the curving road wa k to p iss through a panorama of country scenes where space was the up permost impression on lie’s mind To give the watm, human interest chore was the harvest being gathered by industrious farmers, and the lines of telephone wires more thickly clus tered when near to a township and on the further side* of it. The very ; oles of the telephones seemed to •t ml out in sharper contrast tha*' eve with the white of the insulatois, as both had only that morning come out freshened from nature's de nsing process of soaking fog and wird, and with their glistening surfwes punctuated the miles of delightful drive. On the right hand of the road coming home a plentiful store f<>r t rehouse and barn was ripe* ing in the paddocks on the hillside, while on the left hand rich valley land stretched away in the* sunset to winding course of the Kaikoura stream, and was tenanted by thriving ca f tle. Beyond this rose abruptly series after series of hills to a great height, all bathed in the golden beams of an autumn afternoon sun. Clear road through for many miles brought us happily along ctwecti hedges of hawthorn, on whose blanches the hip* and haws shows.d *heir brightest and freshened red. Scarlet berries on the yet green boughs of sweet briar made a splash of col our on the road *-ide grass. Par t the nicturesque Green Island Post Office at 4 o’clock the car ran, and took a load of thankful folk on their iournev back to the ordinary ways of l >w n life. The chauffeur’s assurance 1 hat the harvest in the district we had just passed through was very good t ! is season was welcome news, since it

would set mi it the likelihood of its sum total being c nninished b> ihe war was what one would naturally rear Among the delightful scenes was one on the hillside where an anci out pear tier sto >d, heavily laden . mong its sheltering hedges. More often than not the farmers were busy ,n the fields, and reminded one of the untiring energ> needed to gather in ..afely the stoic* of prveious incrca-e. T! at the season had > iel led plenty for man anci beast was shown by the large straw stacks, some half built, and of impressive girth. The grain was possibly now thr shed, and awaiting its further voyage over the blue son lying out to the horizon. W ith thoughts and memories of the song “When the kye come hame,’’ the party found their rich* drawing to a close and the sights of the city gradually surrounding them. The slanting rays of rhe sun shone brightly on the panorama of valley scene on one hand and of populous city on the other, as the road running along the c rest of the hill was traversed. The run of sixteen miles was done < < fortably in an hour and a-half, and a r inter*ted and freshened party larded rt their own door.