OUT IN THE BACKBLOCKS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 754, 1 March 1910, Page 10

OUT IN THE BACKBLOCKS.

THE PIONEER'S STRUGGLE. I often wonder, writes our travelling correspondent, how - many people would fairly shudder-if'they had any idea of the pains and penalties which are in front of them when they tako up a bush section. It is quite certain'that if. some could, peer .into the., future they would not' faco the hardship and discomfort ''which" so' maiy of the. brave, pioneers endure . every day. ■ It no doubt sounds nice to have a bit. of land which you can call your own, but in' the case of a heavy bush section .it is for' years. - a sack without a bottom. You can put a great deal of .money and work into it, and at the end of the year there is little to show. The marvel of it is where all the cash has gone. And yet we find still plenty of. lrieii ,, '.with' brave women at .their, sides .. willing and eager to bury themselves miles away in the thick, unbroken forest,- many a tuno having to cut their own tracKs to the sections, always" having, .either, to carry thenstores and , tools on their own,, strong backs, or it. may be by pack-horse. Ihe so-called roads giving. access to the block would, daunt any but the most stouthearted. - '.'• ' What thV Road Means.' . Now all this is written because I have just , seen. h'ow"> the -pioneers ywho have battled'away 'nave had to undergo- all sorts of ill-fortune, and in the end have . been.,fried..byr.flame,and "smoke, are now revelling in sunshine : and comparative plenty. It was tho main road ironi Horoeka—up, and up it climbs to the. P.uketois. A .very', short , timi!. ago this road was merely a six-foot < track,, or supposed to be so, and in some places hardly wide enough to ride "a; horse. 1 Then it was formed into a dray road, and, in winter, was almost impassable. Now it is just splendid, medalled nearly all- the way.' At "the'town' end the metal used is" a sort of .hard.shale,, and, of course, it would not stand'-very heavy traffic. At the higher-end it: is all limestone, of which the Puketpi Kanges are composed. Now these; settlers can .bbwi along in their gigs, and their wives can get a run out to the. outside world. Before this, they were prisoners for nine months out of, the twelve. Tes, it is wonderful to .see.-how- gradually'the country is .being transformed from an unbroken forest, to a land of'good farms and excellent roads. ,15ut ; -and there is always a "but" somewhere—when the road becomes so .utterly neglected as it is from the saddle .'on.the range," down towards Coohoor," it' is • simply a scandal. Any atoount of good metal, and a road in which" it is positively dangerous to drive! ' The Coonoor Country. TheOooncfor country is a great land for . grass—cocksfoot;' it. is 'too. light for rye'.-. The; last farmer, on .the-.^ay,to the saddle is' Mr. Thomas. "H'hitta; he,is one of the pioneers from Canterbury who formed-this ..settlement,, and .one of .-the few, very few, I. think sonur/three oi\ four, who have had;the. pluck to stick I to-,their sections. ..To-doy-he .is,;eujoying aAW.eil-earned regard;for. the toil",of some .seventeen: years "of- hard' labour,■ to which h'&. condemned 1 , himself and Mrs.', Whitta wien'-tliey. went;tb'.Coonopr. He -has built a."very handsome dwelling,, with ; every llioderu convenience; ' He.lives'nearly two; thousand' feet above the sea, and the ■homestead is in a most romantic situation. On .one side the' Puketoi Range rises away to the. east, while behind tho; house and wool-shed are. huge, limestone rocks and crags, and wonderful stream's constantly pour...their icy water down every.igully.- Machines are in.the shed, not only .Air. Whitt i'o'* own "'sheep', .'are put through, .but numbers of the sheep from his neighbours' places -are .shorn here also.. ' .... , . ;..-,'

' Leaving. Coonpor,. r one : passes, a disusedcreamery, which was'.at one-time running in connection with the Makiiri Factory. On again, past the school, the road forks, .one. way. .goes to Dannevirkc, and the other to Pahiatua, over the Waewaepa Eange. This'.latter is only-a horse trauK for several'miles, but , it .-is metalled all the way. >P.think it would be difficult to iind ; more beautiful, .scenery than, in this range. I never saw so many mountain, palms, before. The native toi, with its broad leaves, 1 up to eight inches wide, and red mid-rib, is worth going a long way to see. Now it is down hill for many a weary riiile—Pahiatua at last.