THE UREWERA.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 452, 10 March 1909, Page 8

THE UREWERA.

L_« FAIRYLAND OF, LAKE AND MOUNTAIN. : PRIMEVAL ECHOES. WANTED: COMPLETION OF OVERLAND ROAD. ■ . (BV 'OUR SPECIAL REPORTER.) ' . Though 'tho Main Trunk territory, so long a terra incognita, is now becoming as well trodden as'tlie pumice plains of Botorua, tho Urewora country still suggests itself to the average New Zoalander as a sort of remote Black Forest, somewlicro Back o' Beyond. In the one case, as in the other, it is a question of. access. Tho King Country has been opened by railway, while'a scction of the Urowera overland route still consists of the primeval, centuries-old, Maori trail. That is tho main reason why the Urewera, quite as rich iii forest and scenic wealth as tho Waimari.no, and richer in tradition, scarcely sees a dozen tourists a "year.

From the East Coast tho Urewora is generally approached from Wairoa, Hawke's Bay, whenco a good coach road (with a half-way. accommodation house) leads to Waikaremoana, "Sea of tho Rippling Waters," whero tho Government, has established Lake House for tho accommodation of tourists. From Oisborno also one may journey to Waikaremoana, either by direct track or via Wairoa. Practically all southern people would go by way of Napier and Wairoa, and as the bar of tho Wairoa River is often unworkable, and sometimes for long periods, the risk of failing to catch'a steamer to Wairoa is tho first great handicap of tho Urewera tourist traffic. Tho alternative to about five hours' • steaming is two days of coaching via Mohaka. Tho second handicap, as already noted, is tho absence of a .made road between .Waikare-moana and the top of tho saddle ;on! ; Huia-rau r tho backbone ridge of tho Ureteral- Eyeit'as things-are, however, one.may coach'or cycle from Wairoa to Waikaremoana in one day, may in the next day cross the lako in the-Government launch, and. walk,via the Opuruahine creek bed to Ruatalnina or to Omakoe (Mr. Baillie's store and accommodation house), may in tho third day cycle or drive to Galatea (Murip.ir.-i, Mr. W. Bird's, accommodation house), and on tho fourth .day may. in-the same manner reach Rotorua. The only r.eal difficulties are on tho Maori track, between the lake and the Huiarau.'saddle,' 'where-a -person deficient in average observation and common sense might lose himself.

Where the Roads aro Streams. Tho writer landed from the launch at the mooith of the Opuruahine stream at 9 a.m. on a February morning, ready .for a walk of something like 18 miles to Omakoo. A brief step brings one to a small muddy stream, in which an 'ancient Maori canoe is moored for ferrying purposes in case of a "fresh," but when the water has subsided to a summer trickle, tho canoe ; settles down ( and automatically. ._ turns itself, into;' a wherein,, perhaps, lies the germ of a new - invention, by.'.somo. worried county, engineer. There is rain-water in the trough of the canoe, but "a little bit of balancing along tho edges enables tho Wayfarer to cross dry-footed. The latter is }>ut a shortlived advantage, for. almost immediately L-e arrives on the bank of tho Opuruahine, the bed of which, for at least eight or nine miles, is to ho his'"road". into the densely-forested fastnesses, of tho Urewera. ■ In its .essence, travelling in roadless bush like this primeval mountain, country depends oh knowledge of .the stream system, which of course,;involves knowledge of tho mountain system on which Nature originally laid out tho land. Tl(o water clears, for itself a'bed along which the pedestrian may travel with comparative ease so long as tho stream is not t-oo deep or is not requiring the whole of its bed for itself; in other-words, so long as the stream is modorately low. There is one stage in its volumo w,hich, would compel the use.of a horse, and another stage, i^ti : .-whioh, . one thinks, neither man' : ifor horse could get up. But in midsummer the travelling on gravel, banks or in six inches to two feet of water. is pleasant enough.Where driven locs have built thomselves up into , an impassable rampart, or where the stream runs into a narrow, deep hole of greater than wading depth, the track deviates by making an excursion, uphill into tho dark. forest shade, returning, however, as soon as possible to the stream-bed, which is again followed for a considerable distance until a similar deviation takes place.

Keeping tha Track. . • > Where 'the-' track, is hardest to follow is where'it runs'over tho-.hard-set gravel bed, leaving, but the .faintest trail, which, in fact, would, after a "fresh," be invisible. On the other hand, 1 in tho bush it is strongly marked, and anvono ascending tho Opuruahine, who keeps a sharp eye to left and right; particularly to the left, cannot fail to pick up the track where it,deviates into the forest, even,if ho loses it.in the creek. After the. first crossing of tho .Opuruahine, a steep hill, followed by. a. stretch..of, flat, is traversed; then, for miles the. track rnns in and out of the'stream,-finally leaving'it by, striking up a steep ridgo which leads on to tho Govern-ment-made road to Oniakoe. The main point, of course, is not.,to pass tho spot where tho track finally leaves the Opuruahine; it is on tho left side (looking up-stream) and is easily indicated by tho usual exposed tree-roots and-gap in, tho foliage. The noofs of-the Maoris'.ponies piake a defined trough in tho. humid soil, and in the shade of tho forest, giants the track can hardly bo lost. As there , has been some amount of misad-venture-in tho Urewera, causing a great amount of misapprehension,, the nature of the track has been defined herein somewhat more minutely, than would otherwise be tho case. No ono 'with ordinary care and observation need be, at fault, in this route; but some people would lose their way anywhere.

No Through Road Yet. All risk would bo obviated if tho Govern-ment-would, put just a little more steam into tho road-making. Since 1895 this road ha? been' crawling'through the TJrewera from tho" Rotorua ■ side, towards Waikaro-moana, ■whore' it has not-yet-arrived. And yet thero are only a few miles left to do. All tho labour and money expended from Te Whaiti eastward is without its full effect and,-value till tho unfinished gap is bridged;, and no' steady stream of overland tourist, traffic betweem that great show-place, Rotorua, and the coming one, Waikare-moana, - can bo looked for until tho Government has completed its tardy purpose. Wagons come now from Rotorua to Omakoe, in the heart of. tho TJrewera, ono day's stnge'from Waikaremoana. Given dependable communication be-tween-tho two, a tourist could stop with confidence either at Waikare-moana or at-Oma-koe; but nowadays, when he hears a summer torrent beat at night on the roof of Lake House, and realises what tho effect will bo on tho mountain streams if tho rain continues, he is prone to hie himself away post haste in tho morning so as to ascend tho Opuruahine before the prospective "fresh" has developed. Thus an interesting stay at Waikare-moana, with its many attractions, is liable to bo curtailed, and the Government directly posies money. If a steady ■ tourist traffic is to bo developed, the mado road must completely.succeed tno old Maori train wbich winds its way up creek-bed and ridge, round waterfalls and hugo trees with boles four to eight feet in diameter, and which has been traversed by primitive man for centuries.

Trail of the Old-Time Maori. At one time, not so far distant, the whole of the journey from Te Whaiti to Waikaremoana was by this trail, which now, it would seem, is trodden by no one, and whioh—bad augury for tho Maori himself —is doomed to obliteration by effluxion of time. and alien growthJ What preserves a road, in any country and in any age, is traffic, and in tho primeval days tho unshod Maori assisted the delimiting influences of the scanty foottraffic by breaking twigs and branches here and there as ho went along, just to mark tho trail and keep it open, Tho European-, clothed modern Maori takes the now pakolia road, and ancient trails, whoso usefulness has departed, return to a stato of nature. Thus a double transition, richly symbolic and pathetically interesting, is in process. .Nor do. all the advantages lie with the new. It is inspiring to think, as one clambers over gnarled roots and treads the black, spongy forest loam on the slopes of the Opuruahine .Valley, that this ia the wav the Urewera hill

tribes camo hnntlrcrls of years ago when they raided tho Lake-dwellers. Old-time pas and battlefields and clea rings in the Urewera and around AVaikare-nioanii aro legion. In moro modern times —lato 'sixties ami early 'seventies—European troops toilsomely pursued the Natives who perpetrated the East Coast murders; and oil this very trail, so narrow and faint, wo aro treading in the footsteps of To Itoofci. Somo of llio most respected Natives in the Urewera to-day were blood-demons in the Hatihau era, and fought at To Kooti's sido against tho Whitmoro and other expeditions. Of which moro anon.

Clorlcs of Wailiarc-moana. Tho glories and traditions of Waikaremoana have already been dealt with by able pens, notably that of Mr. Elsdon Best, well known as an authority on tho Urewera. Tho lake is one of line distances and long deeplyindented coast-line, containing somo islands, also somo peninsulas which are insular at high lake. Waikare-moana—like her smaller and moro elevated sister, the island-studded Waikare-iti—is a beautiful study ill lako and mountain scenery, illuminated by tho manyshaded evergreens of tho native bush, which in most places grows to the water's edge, and in others looks down from sheer bluffs into clear depths. On a calm day the water surface is unruffled savo for the splash of black swan or .other waterfowl, or tho leap of a great trout. Then a "blow" springs up, great waves arise, and tho waters lying between Onepoto outlet and tho Whanganui arm —a veritablo .wind-funnel —toss like tho ocean, a tumult which has been the deathwarrant of many an old-time canoe party. For Waikare-moana has many moods and countless memories. For tho most part it is pensive, a place to dream in ; to lie fnee-to-face with nature. To Aniwamwa and Mokau, mountain streams running into tho lake, are famous for their falls and cascades. At Onepoto are tho curious subterranean outlets of the lake. Tho huge weight of water is confined by a comparatively narrow rampart of rock, and at low lake in summer time thero is no overflow, but the under/low is perpetual, and you can hear the water, after its subterranean passage, gush out of tho precipitous rock face and go bounding in a succession" of cascades and waterfalls, with deep re-echoing roar, away down into tho valley of tho Waikare-Tahekc. Tho river, thus formed, tho Waikarc-Taheke, a noted flyfishing stream, belongs to tho Wairoa river system.. Should the great lako ever break down the whole of its narrow rampart, tho Wairoa valley would bccomo a sluiring-box. It is said that people who row in the lake near tho outlet feel 110 great power of suction, r which would suggest that tho water percolates through many fissures, or, if through one. big hole, at a great depth. It is also stated-that, in'tho clear water, fair-sized crabs can be seen drawn into fissures, and apparently dead through inability to got back. The power that could bo general od at Waikare-moana is estimated at 100,000 bih.p.*

Four Distinct Needs. . The Government has gone to the cxporiso of building on Waikare-moana a splendid place, of accommodation. Lake Houso (manager, Mr. Challis), and it is excellently conducted. Thero are four outstanding needs: (1.) Completion of the remaining small section: of the road f rom To Whaiti, thus linking up Waikare-moana and Wairoa and the East Coast with Rotorua and Auckland.' (2) Erection of a small hut or whare, near tho mouth, of the Opuruahine, as temporary or overnight accommodation of thoso who arrivp at the lake from the llotoriia side, and'who, through tho lack of a road, have been-benighted- oil the way or have been unablo to notify Lake House tltat.tho Government launch -is required for their transit across the lako. (3) A new trolling launch on Waikaremoana —of greater range of speeds in the present one—so that visitors who wish to troll for the splendid rainbow with which tho lake abounds may be able to do so by other than tho laborious method of a pair-oar rowing-boat. ' (4) A hot water service at Lake Houso, v a somewhat surprising omission from the original plans;

Walroa's Troubles. • These 'would leave but oiio. thing to be desired, viz., ail open port at Wairoa. This; town has' various points, in. common with so.-no others in Now Zealand, to wit: a river-port with a bad bar; a vacillating harbour policy which does not know whether to abandon tho costly mistakes or to spend more money to retriovo them; a rival scheme for establishing a port at a natural harbour some distance away (in this case twenty odd miles, at Waikokopu)—a plan which, whatever its merits, must bo distasteful.to many local landed interests in Wairoa; a yet more remote scheme for a railway from Napier, thus avoiding present isolation; in matters of local administration, a tendency to conflict between very oldestablished settlers of conservative bent, and younger basiness men who want to "hustle." ; and last —but by no means least—a Native land title. So Waiioa has a fairly healthy crop of troubles, and the sooner they are cured tho letter it will bo for the town, the fertile valley, and tho hinterland generally, including Waikare-moana.

'The late Engineer-in-Chicf of the Public Works Department, Mr. I'. S. Hay, has left on record some interesting observations about Waikare-moana. He points out that the absence of whirlpools in the lake infers that the water flows out either at a considerable depth within the lake or through numerous openings inside the lake-rim. His investigations outside the lake-rim show that thcro are numerous outlets, the three principal ones being estimated to (lis-, charge over GO per. cent, of the whole flow, while there is also a fourth outlet of some size; the three principal outlets issue from the ground at depths of 55ft., sSft., and 85ft. below the lake level, and all unite about 37 chains from the lake, at it depth of about '100 ft. below the lake-surface, forming the .head waters of the AVaikare-taheke. If the underground channels could be dammed or sealed, the amount of power that could bo generated would be about doubled. Thus tho question of the nature of the inside feeder 1 channels—whether deep or shallow, whether numerous and small, or few and large?—becomes important. Mr. Hay remarks that, assuming that the lake-rim is not shattered to a greater depth than 85ft., the cost of building a concrete water-tight wall should not be excessive. The fact that there are numerous small outlets issuing at a lower level than the three main streams mentioned may mean that fissures exist within tho lakerim at a much greater depth than tho main streams; "but all theso small and lower outlets may also only mean that tho water is flowing.downhill through numorous fissures in shattered rock overlying a sloping solid lakerim, the upper edge of this solid rim not being at any great depth below the lake-sur-face." Waikare-moana, 2015 ft. abovo sea-level, has an' area of a little over 21 square miles, and a drainage Urea of H3 squaromiles. Waikare-iti, which drains into : Waikare-moana, has an elevation of 2715 ft;, an area of 2.72 square miles, and a drainage area of nearly 10 square miles.