Arriving at Auckland by train from the south is now a more pleasant experience than it was in the years before the present railway track was laid down. Instead of flashing past a series of small uninteresting suburban stations and grimy urban backyards, the express now passes through a more sparsely populated area of green fields and market gardens and then, after crossing the quiet backwater of the Orakei Basin, skirts finally the waters of the Waitemata Harbour itself. Thus does the traveller get a first and most inviting glimpse of what has rightly been called—“New Zealand's Yachtsmen's Paradise.”

If you are fortunate enough to arrive early on a Saturday afternoon or on a day when a club regatta is in progress, you will think that you have been precipitated into some hitherto unimagined piece of pageantry. There will be sails spreading like a swarm of moths over the surface of the harbour and white plumes of spray curving outwards from the prows of dozens of pleasure launches. And if you have a spark of soul within you (together with a stomach for aquatic motion) you will press your nose to the carriage window and sigh—“My kingdom for a yacht.”

Should Providence accept your challenge and convert desire into reality, you will experience one of the major joys of your existence. You will find an escape from the fret and noise of modern life and enter into one that is carefree, simple, healthful and exhilarating.