From a Train Window.

And then the tawny, russet beauty of the Pokeno marsh lands and swamps—here is one of the most picturesque and fascinating train-pictures to be seen in all New Zealand. Spring time is the best time to see it, before the willows and osiers beside the line are in thick leaf. In spring, when the tiny leaves are just unfurling, it is like gazing through a thin green curtain out to a landscape all brown and orange and gold, with silver strips of water, and sometimes the whirr of a duck rising from the little reedy islands, or a glimpse of a red-billed pukeko (swamphen) stalking delicately on stilt-legs through the shallow pools.

Over the mossy wastes of the great Piako and Eureka swamp lands, and down again into the farm country of Motumaoho and Morrinsville Junction—how beautiful it all is under the golden sunshine! The long, straight run down from Morrinsville to Te Aroha is full of beauty, for the acacias are in full bloom, and the gold-green willows make a perfect frame for the smooth waters of the Waihou River. Then, before you know it, Te Aroha mountain is frowning down on you, and you come with a rush into the pretty little township snugly set at its feet.