THE WEST COAST INVADES DUNEDIN

Evening Star, Issue 22454, 26 September 1936, Page 2

THE WEST COAST INVADES DUNEDIN

[Written by F. J. Collier, for the ‘ Evening Star.’] To-day, for the first time in history, Dunedin, is to experience a large-scale invasion from the Co.ast, Eight hundred people, it is estimated, will be travelling by the special through trains which the Railway Department is running in connection with the Ranfurly Shield game between Westland and Otago. This is the first time that there has been an excursion of any kind direct from*the Coast to, Dunedin. Indeed, previous to the visit of the Duke of Gloucester,, such a trip would have involved considerable delay and difficulty at the junction with the Main South Line. For it was to facilitate the non-stop run of the Duke’s train from the West Coast to , Otago that the new southern loop line at Rolleston was laid down. What of this land of rain and timber, of sawmills and coal mines, .gold dredges and sluicing claims? It is the great non-agricultural district of New Zealand, with its whole life based on the mines and sawmills." For what little farming there is is confined to dairying, and there is no large-scale tilling of the soil. ; In many ways the Coast makes .one think of Wales in the Old, Country; Do not the coal mines in its valleys remind one of Taff Vale and the Rhondda? And the towering summits of its mountain ranges, are they not reminiscent- on.- a large- scale of old Plinlimmon, of Snowden and Cader Idris and the lesser heights of Brecon ? North Wales is the stamping ground of those modern young Bohemians, devotees of the shorts and the ruc-saefc. the members of the Youth Hostels Association. And doubtless it is Westland’s; similar grandeur ot scenery and paucity of motor roads (Bugbears to hikers) that have inspired New Zealand’s young Youth Hostel Movement to cross the Alps in its pioneering efforts and coyer Westland with a chain of hostels. Just here it might be opportune to. recommend to those in Dunedin who hare not yet planned their Christmas holiday the joys to be derived from a tramp in Westland. I will not enlarge on the routes and the hostels that there are, but will mention the two on the shores of glorious Lake Brunner. These are situated at Moana and Mitchell’s respectively, and are separated by five miles of lake. We all know Wakatipu, Te Anau, and Wanaka. But how manv know Lake Brunner? Five and a-half miles by three, and pear-shaped, it is of no mean size, and its surroundings defy description. Our Southern Lakes, with the great rocky peaks around them, have their own grandeur. But see Lake Brunner with the mountains around it .covered from head to foot with native bush, thick and impenetrable. It is a sight that should not be missed. Above all, by great good fortune the Titans that hurled the mountains here left a gap through which the setting sun could light up the eastern slopes of the lake. A sunset on Lake Brunner, with its blues and purples and great dark shadows, is one of the softest and most beautiful things that I have ever seen. We have come some distance from our comparisons between the West Coast and Wales, but there is just one last point in that connection.. For to take , the very object of to-day’s invasion, the --. “ Coasters ” are doughty exponents of the Rugby code, of which there are in the world no finer players than the Welsh. To some this trek of a countryside to watch a game seems strange. , How much better to sit in carpet slippers and listen to a broadcast of the match Then if the game becomes too overwhelmingly one-sided and dull, one can always turn to page two of the •Evening Star’ and revive the jaded spirits. However, such a trek has, tradition behind it. Dare we trace it, to the ancient Greeks, who flocked in such numbers to the Olympic and Isthmian Games? Can we find it in the crowds round some joust or tournament in the Middle Ages? At any rate we are on sure ground when ,we think of the train Toad upon train load that come from Lancashire or Yorkshire to watch the 'final for “ the Coop.” The writer was living near London at the time that the Wembley Stadium was first to be used for the cup-tie finals For weeks the papers had been dilating on the great size of the stadium, and its enormous seating capacity. For weeks their advertisement pages had borne the glaring announcement of excursions by rail, excursions by bus, of parking facilities and hotel accommodation for those who were travelling by private car., The week of the cup final came with glorious weather, and the World and his Wife decided to spend the day at Wemblev. Two hundred and fifty thousand people clamoured at the gates of ft stadium that would hold 90,000 at a pinch. The traffic block was a sight to behold. The King’s car was inextricably wedged alongside a bus in one of the crowded roads. From the bus top a loyal subject shouted greetings: “You’ll get a seat. Your Majesty; but I won’t!” In the stadium itself all order was gone, gates were lifted off their hinges, reserved seats were a thing of the past, and the football ground itself was a mass of people. And yet, unbelievable ns it is, tbo match was played. Mounted police, with the greatest good humour and tact, edged back the crowd. One constable in particular, on a fine white horse, worked wonders. His photograph was in all the papers

the next day. And an hour after time the game started and the fate of the cup for another year was decided. No scenes of this kind are expected at: Carishrook to-day. But the enthusiasm will bo there all the same. The odds are heavily in favour of Otago. May the best team win 1