60 
Whangarei to Dargaviile and Helens- 
ville, thence to Auckland. 
Having missed our steamer, we now had 
to decide whether we should wait at Whan- 
garei for her next trip, or return to Auck- 
land by some other route, and we decided 
on the latter. Our route was to be to 
Dargaville by special motor, thence to 
Helensville by the Kaipara Steamship Com- 
pany’s s.s. Wairoa, and from Helensville to 
Auckland by train. 
The Whangarei-Dargaville run was with- 
out incident. A powerful four-cylinder 
American car had been procured, and we 
ran out of Whangarei at a good pace, pas- 
sing the hospital in its commanding position 
on our left; and here it may be said that 
the North Auckland people are not only 
lavish in their hospitality to the passing 
guest, but are deeply appreciative of any 
sight return from the friends they enter- 
tain; hardly a Whangarei resident we met 
but impressed upon us the substantial and 
unostentatious help afforded to their hos- 
pital by the commercial travellers of the 
north. 
Bad reports had come through as to the 
condition of the main road, and at Maunga- 
tapere we diverged to the north, passing 
in our cireuit through Poroti, Titoki, and 
Houto, a district of rich grazing slopes; on 
the whole this road was fair, but the recent 
heavy rains and neglect of the culverts had 
left a few deep mudholes in the dips. Chains 
were put on, and the car worked her way 
through without special difficulty; later we 
heard that two or three cars that had held 
to the main road had been held un, and 
were still in trouble. Once past these few 
difficult miles and arrived at Kirokopuni, 
good metalled road ran along the Wairoa 
to the rich Dargaville flats. Hardly were 
we in Dargaville before the almost embar- 
rasing hospitality of the north was encoun- 
tered. The houses of casual acquaintances 
were at our disposal; bed-rooms were ready 
for us—why not spend a few days before 
hurrying back to the wintry south? We 
compromised; we could not stay, but we 
promised our hosts in all sincerity that we 
would make an effort to return ere long. 
