Highlights Of Hastings
The Hawke'S Bay Garden Of The Hesperides.

(By O. N. Gillespie ).

(Rly. Publicity Photo.)
Windsor Park, the well-known motor camping ground at Hastings.

It is an old saying that the wealth of a land is in its soil. If it is truth, then Hastings is built upon treasure trove. As a matter of fact, the inevitable and rapid growth of the town has its tragic side. Each extra increment of its population spreads over and hides a rich lode. Such is the inordinate, the abounding and extraordinary fertility of the land of the district, that it amounts to sheer extravagance to cover it with paved roads, footpaths, homes and buildings, however handsome they may be. For aeons, the wandering rivers have been bringing in this huge, spreading series of flats, the countless riches of their gatherings. In many places, there are six feet of this black opulence from which any growing thing will spring with vivid life and swift strength. In a land of sunshine and warm and friendly rains, this area rightly claims many leadership rights. Its actual hours of sunshine place it along with Nelson and Napier among the world leaders in the blue sky's greatest gift. Its rainfall, still, is ample for all purposes, but its rainy days might have been arranged on a limit fixed by tennis or cricket enthusiasts. It is an open air man's paradise.

The town itself is, as the Frenchman said “something to rave.” It is the youngest of our substantial county capitals, a red-haired beauty among so many splendid sisters. Its present population is 12,747, having grown since last counting by 2,599. I know of no place in New Zealand with such a spic and span air of freshness. Here, as in Napier and Gisborne, all earthquake traces have been obliterated. Hastings, in a different sense from all other of the cities in miniature of the Dominion, had no heritage of early carefree muddle, of lack of wise vision. It is almost a town planner's model; broad streets at right angles, ample wide spaces, and striking and lavish parks. Many of the new buildings are in, those delightful pastel shades of tinted concrete, and there is hardly an ugly edifice in the whole business section. The lighting is clear, fine, and efficient, and the noble main street is an avenue of lustre in the evening. I confess that I would like some more of those brilliant reds and blues of the Neon signs which make so many of our towns a fairyland at night time. As the town area is flat, symmetrically networked with streets in ordered series, comparison with Christchurch or Invercargill is inevitable. The ubiquity of the bicycle and their kerbside racks, and the slightly careworn faces of motorists as they watch these random little vehicles in wheeling flocks, are points of resemblance.

The town itself is a half-century old, and its achievement,

(Rly. Publicity Photo.)
Heretaunga Street, the principal thoroughout of Hastings.

to be rightly apprehended, has to be considered in that perspective. Be reminded, however, that there are no miracles in the rapid rise of settlements. They do not come into existence because of genius, enthusiasm or luck; but because they are necessary to the developing progress of their districts. If ever this observation needed proof, Hastings supplies it.

It is a busy, bustling, cheerful, thriving distributing centre, whose immediate task is to supply the needs of the happy dwellers on a hundred thousand acres or more of the richest land in the world. I went out with mine host of the pleasant Pacific Hotel at eleven o'clock in the morning, and the main street wore the air of a small metropolis. Motor cars lined the principal streets and were parked in every available side thoroughfare. People were coming in and out of the handsome shops, mostly wearing that indefinable, but easily recognisable, air of the “primary producer.”

(Rly. Publicity Photo.)
A glimpse of Cornwall Park, Hastings, showing the open-air swimming pool in the foreground.

The business premises are modern in the last degree. Westerman's, for instance, pictured in our illustration, ranks with the drapery emporiums in its wide range of stock, the sumptuous fittings, and the up-to-date methods of display.

In Hastings, as in many other similar towns, anyone can shop to the same advantage as in any of our major four centres. I got into conversation with a pilgrim from well back in the hills while shaving one morning. The Pacific Hotel has that best of all men's comforts, a roomy toilet foyer with mirror-lined walls, where one can shave without monopolising the bathroom. This makes for conversation, and I found that my lathered acquaintance was getting the whole of his kit for a trip to the Old Land in Hastings. I wish New Zealanders would count their blessings in this regard, for no other country on the globe has country centres which give the same service.

Here in Hastings, too, I found an industry which was a complete surprise. The firm of Land and Highway make tents and camping equipment to meet orders from all parts of the Dominion. Their tents can be seen in the Eglinton Valley or the Hokianga camping grounds. It is just a case of skill and brains united to experience, in a locality where open air recreation is universal and easy. Their show of sports goods, too, was witness to the prosperity and the healthy habits of the people. It would do credit to any capital of Europe.

In this regard, however, Hastings simply asserts its parity with the rest of the provincial capitals of the Dominion. Its first eye-opening, distinctive possession, is Cornwall Park, of which we show pictures. This consists of twenty acres of formal and informal Garden of Eden. The soil makes the curator's job one of sheer joy. Mountain trees are there that I have never seen before on the flat. The gardens are apparently endless and riotous in their luxuriance. The ample water supply has been most ingeniously used. There are several sparkling sheets of ornamental waters, winding streams lined with roughcast edging interspersed with seats and novel bridges. The forest giants, the long avenue of tall palms, the vivid green velvet of the lawns, give this bowered retreat an atmosphere of centuries of age. For good measure, there are fine aviaries, monkey houses, playing apparatus for children, making a miniature zoo.

Cornwall is an impressive and beautiful art object and would be admired in Paris or Rome. Windsor Park is known to many readers of this article. This is the far-famed Hastings Camping Ground.

(Rly. Publicity Photo.)
New Zealand girl workers at Wattles Canning Factory, at Hastings.

It is beautiful, even in winter time, and its long list of amenities for the touring motorist include a swimming pool, hot and cold showers, electric and gas facilities for cooking, rowboats, tennis courts, and other unique notions. It amounts, in fact, to a vast open-air caravansary-de-luxe.

There are other recreation areas, such as Ebbett Park, with its priceless and exquisite Maori carvings, but the first two I have mentioned are rightly regarded by the townsfolk with pride and by visitors with delighted appreciation. The neighbourhood streets in Hastings are themselves, very often, small ornamental pleasure grounds, providing a restful sight-seeing tour. Many of them, with their trim kerbings, paved roadways, footpaths with flower and lawn edgings, and the absence of concealing hedges, are reminiscent of the best environs of Los Angeles. By the way, I encountered one unique characteristic of the Hastings folk. In this land of ours, where the Sybarite who complained of the crumpled roseleaf, would be by comparison, a cheery soul compared with many of our chronic grumblers, it is rare to find this phenomenon; I discovered that the place is wholly satisfied with its municipal government. This may be due to the extreme and unique lowness of the rates, but it remains a fact that one and all admitted, almost with gaiety, that the Mayor and Council were doing a good job. The Municipal Buildings are superb. They contain, as well as the usual range of offices, a splendid theatre that pays, and a capacious and lofty assembly hall. There is a good library with a sound collection of books and fourteen hundred subscribers. The book shops and libraries of page 11

(Rly. Publicity Photo.)
A typical suburban bungalow at Hastings.

a town are always effective evidence as to its cultural standards, and Foster Brook's large book shop is of city dimensions and range. As I wandered down its lanes of volumes, I pondered on the variety and high standard of literary taste evinced by its contents.

As one traverses the main thoroughfare, or any of its parallels, there stands at the far end a clean cut hill skyline. This is “The Peak” whose thirteen hundred feet of height stand in a park of two hundred and forty acres. It is a priceless and unique treasure. Winding roads of easy incline have been cut about its sides, and trees planted by a band of enthusiasts. From it, breath-taking views fill the eye. On the far side there is a colossal limestone face, dropping sheer for six hundred feet. The blue Pacific and the whole sweep of the “Bay” can be seen. The frontal view is the mighty panorama of the Hawke's Bay plains, with Hastings in the foreground. This double-sided vision of wonderland is only a few minutes from the town; it will be visited by increasing thousands year after year.

On the return journey, Havelock North is passed. This village might have been lifted bodily from Kent or Devonshire; on its gentle downs nestle charming homes, with gracious lawns, glowing gardens, and pretty grounds. The ideal climate, the genial living conditions, the easy proximity of every kind of sport and recreation, have made Havelock North grow into a colony, largely of retired people, with a quota of Hastings folk. We stopped to look at the handsome entrance to lona, and in the trees that bordered our lane I counted a dozen tuis. We might have been a million miles from a store or petrol pump; for we seemed to be in the serene loveliness and peace of an old world forest glade. Iona is shown in our pictures. It stands in grounds of twenty-five acres and is a modern earthquake-proof building, with every device for health and comfort that scientific planning can ensure. The girls have separate rooms, there are sleeping porch sanatoria (very little used in this elysian spot), and all the facilities for the latest educational practice. I like best the School's own statement of its aims, “The School aims at preparing girls to deal with the practical affairs of life in their own homes, and as members of the social body.” It has a good record, nevertheless in scholastic attainment, and the staff contains distinguished names of England, the Continent, and our own land. The boarding fees represent a charge of no more than girl's home living expenses; but here she learns to know her world, and the final lessons of community duty and civic responsibility. Moreover, her surroundings, in this picked Arcadia, are of natural and abiding sweetness. There are other schools, too, Woodford House, and Hereworth, and these institutions, known throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand,

(Rly. Publicity Photo.)
Delightful homes at Havelock North, Hastings.

are of infinite value to Hastings. But they do not sum up its educational facilities. We show the noble pile of the Hastings High School. The interesting fact emerged that every primary school, in addition to good gardens, owns its own swimming pool.

I visited the newly erected canning factory of Watties Ltd. It is a fine modern industrial plant, but should be ten times the size. It turns out tinned pears, peaches and apricots which are incomparable for flavour. It is natural that this should be so. This factory stands in the dead centre of its raw material. The transport problem is negligible. The sun-drenched fruit is glowing as it goes into the cans. I am tired to death of the story that we cannot build up an export trade. I have never been able to notice that it is farther from Wellington to San page 12 page 13 Francisco than it is from San Francisco to Wellington. Yet I walked out of that great plant, in the midst of a copious abundance of the finest fruit in the world, to see Californian tinned peaches in the Hastings stores. Could anything be more ridiculous! Watties Ltd. are starting asparagus canning this year, and I see no reason why this district and its active and industrious citizens should not, in company with other parts of our country, at least supply all the tinnned fruit and vegetables we need. Moreover, it should come about that epicures the world over from Vladivostock to Buenos Ayres should be demanding our goods because of their special excellence.

Here is an avenue of useful employment for thousands of our fellow citizens. All that is needed is logical development; the rich soil and sunny skies will do the rest.

I find myself having to close this story with many wonders still unfolded. There is the famous Hawke's Bay A. & P. Society whose magnificent grounds we show, taken from the air. The society here owns a park of compelling beauty and appointments of the “last minute” standard of efficiency. The Show itself is a Dominion event. There are the stately buildings and perfect course of the Hawke's Bay Jockey Club, with appointments superior to all English courses with less than a dozen exceptions. There is a fine aerodrome and a progressive aero club. There are church buildings of genuine aesthetic values, from the creeper covered St. Matthew's,

The beautiful Showgrounds at “Tomoana,” Hastings, as seen from the air.

the modernistic purity of St. Andrew's Hall, to the striking simplicity of the new Baptist Church. There are three golf courses, innumerable tennis and cricket grounds and playing fields. Its sea beaches are known from Riverton to Keri Keri.

Hastings ought to be happy. It has everything.