IMPROVEMENTS AT WAINUI
New Caretaker’s Cottage
Those of the Wellington City Council party who visited the Wainui-o-mata water supply reserve last week on business concerning the tapping of the waters of George Creek were surprised to see the improvements which have been effected there since the last official visit of members of the city council.
The site of the old caretaker’s cottage, near the entrance gates on the great earthen dam, forms a picturesque scene, with the heavily bush-clad mountains on either side descending to the calm waters of the reservoir to the north, and to the south the spillway of the reservoir—the source of the noisy little Wainui stream, which bubbles its way, by shallow and deep, through the sunny open valley to the sea.
The old cottage near the big trees still stands. It is now the home of the assistant caretaker, and a very comfortable home it is. The improvement which has taken place consists of the erection on the western side of the path which leads on to the Morton Dam of a new home for the chief caretaker, Mr James Brown.
This neat little cottage has, with the aid of lawns, garden beds, a small rockery, and concrete-floored lakelet, been made extremely attractive to the eye, quite transforming the old camp site which formerly occupied that area. The new house was built by the city corporation’s own staff, who have made a good job of it.
In happier years the Wainui reserve was considered to be one of Wellington’s most attractive picnic grounds. Because, however, of the necessity for keeping the grounds absolutely free of any kind of pollution, there is a strict embargo on the admission of anyone into the reserve without a permit.
There is still a reminder of bygone days in the macrocarpa grove, where an ancient sign, nailed to the trunk of one of the great trees, announces the “Picnic Ground.” At one time it was the annual practice of the city council to pay a picnic visit to this picturesque reserve, but for several years past this practice has been dropped, which is a matter for regret in some quarters.
