THROUGH THE UREWERA BY CYCLE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2134, 7 March 1908, Page 2 (Supplement)

THROUGH THE UREWERA BY CYCLE.

A MAGNIFICENT SCENINC ROUTE. ONLY 10 MILES OF TRACK NEEDED TO COMPLETE MARVELLOUS JOURNEY, (By F. AY. C.) AA e all know the saving—‘do as I say not as I do’—well then, let me say at the outset —don’t attempt to go through the Urewera country'on a bicycle iust vet. It will be one of the finest bicycle routes in the Dominion" to go from AA'airoa to Rotorua via Lake Waikaremoana, as soon as the Government has made another ten miles of roail on the west side of the Lake, but till that is done iiiy advice is to wait. The object of this particular journey was three-fold—to see Lake AVaii-. uemoana and the Urewera country, ■■■:> get to know something of the 11aihi's and their condition, and to a'.uii Rotorua. The cyclists started from Gisborne three days before Christmas udtli the intention of spending that day with the Maoris at Te Reinga. The steady uphill push for 2J miles between Patutnbi and Parakanaya is not the most cheerful commencement for a long journey and when added to this there

has been some hours of rain iust previously, matters are not improved. But this was only a preparation for the stage between Farakiinapa and To Reinga, for soon after the start rain fell in torrents and continued all tfie

day making the roads a sea of mud. In a few places there was that particular kind of sticky mud known only to cyclists on the East Coast, when wheels absolutely refuse to move and bicycles have disappeared behind a case of jinul. It is only fair to the weather to say that this was the very last attempt made to daunt tlie travellers and ever afterwards tho elements were at their best. In consequence of these little delays we did not reach To Reinga till tho afternoon of -Christmas Day. There was a large gathering of some 200 Maoris and they did their best to provide us with dry garments, anil soon all discomfort was forgotten ,- while unlimited numbers of wild cher-

vies were brought in which were appreciated as only weary travellers can appreciate them. Then came t-lio general -meal, after which there was ° hearty Christmas service, when t]io old message was listened to- afresh and hymns and ‘koreros’ indulged in to a late hour till ono by one all led asleep. Earlv next morning everyone was astir; the weather hail cleaned, clothes were gradually dried round a huge fire, and preparations were made for visitors to depart. A he customary morning “karakia was earn and after breakfast a visit was pain to the beautiful falls, one ol the loveliest of the falls m the North Island. AVe then continued to AA airoa our party being joined by a young Maori clergyman and liis wife oil horseback who accompanied us all through the Urewera. , , , . Wairoa was reached towards evening -anil a halt made for a day to make preparations for the next stage-, procuring pack-horse, provisions, tents, etc. The weather was very hot just at this time aiid wo* took two days to cover the 40 miles from \\airoa to Lake AVaikaremo.ini-. 1 he lake, which is situated high up m the mountains, 200 feet above the sea, suddenly burst into view as you reach the top of the last five miles of hill. Surrounded by bush clad hills, uith arms or bays running up into these hills in various directions, it is one of the most beautiful of tlie New Zealand lakes, though the mountains surrounding it are not so high or bold as those of the southern lakes. There are, however, several bold headlands which are very striking features as you first come upon the lake. There is'a Maori settlement just before you reach AYaikaremoana where a number of natives from the tireworn were assembling for their New Year’s gathering. Being invited by them to stay fur tfipir meeting we agreed to come back the following ■ (piv when we had pitched our -tents at the lake. This we did and enjoyed their hospitality on New A ear s Day. There were about- 200 present on tills occasion, all Hanliaus or Ringatus. They had their own services first-, and afterwards asked if we would like to say anything to them, so we had a short service dud t}jp Maori clergyman and I both addressed' them. There were some very fine looking men amongst them, and the unfriendliness of former days is evidently passing away. AVe were pleased to have

ivna not without some good effect. It was noticeable that noitlicr hero .nor at To Reinga, where so many woro assembled together, was there any signs of alcoholic drinking. The next day wo decided to cross tho lake and eomineneo the rough part of our journey which the Maoris 'nail declared to be impassable for bicycles, adding by way of emphasis that- you could not oven walk through with ono pair of hoots. However, wo - mado a start, crossing tho lake in tlie Government, launch with all the swags, while the horses went rouiul the 17 miles of rough track to meet us at the other end. The first thing we had to do when wo landed, was to search for tho track. This was like looking for a needle in u bundle of liny, as tho forbidding looking mountains and rough country all round gave little indication as to the whereabouts of tho said truck. The day was wearing on by the time we had boiled tho billy and it was soon evident that it would be unwise to plunge into t-lio unknown that day, so wo decided to pitch tlie tents on tho flat near tho river, across which wo discovered our track lay. In order to got over some of the difficulties with tho bicycles wo decided to take them- -as far as wo could carry them that night returning to the touts to sleep. This was tho beginning of tho rough ton miles which waits for iho Government to put a track through. The only path at present is an old Maori track of the very roughest -description, which meant that we had to carry tho bicycles for practically the wliolo ton miles. Tho lluiarau range, for -it is this which has to be crossed, is 3500 ft -above sea lovel, and as tho Maoris -always ohoso tho ridges, this particular track follows the ridges most religiously and as theso particular ridges are like the waves of a very tempestuous -sea in their undulations, you never seom to know when you are at the top. It took about three hours to haul the bicycles to the top of this first ridge or shoulder, a height of about 500 ft and a steepness approaching in places to perpendicularity. However, tho top was reached and, well satisfied with tho result, wo descended to the camp below to enjoy in the dusk the very savoury meal that had been prepared for us. Next

day saw us away at 5 a.m. and, after reaching our bicycles we had to descend about 300 or 400 feet to tho stream below. The stream then had to bo followed for perhaps three miles anil the roughness of the track may bo judged from the fact- that it look 5 or 6 hours to cover those tlireo miles. Then after a rest for the midday meal, the track, such as it- was, (often quite invisible) lay for three miles in the river bed, crossing and rocrossiug the stream 50 times. But for our Maori friend, carrying first one and then the other of the ladies’ bicycles on his shoulder up this river, it would have been almost impossible to get on. It was not till dusk was coming on that- we reached the point where the track leaves the rocky.bed of the river and rises to a little cleared spot where wo could pitch our tents and turn in for the night, not a little weary, with a record of about 7 miles covered between 5 a.m. and S p.m. The trouble was that as wo were all new to the route we Ifad no idea how many more miles of similar travelling there might he, which at times was naturally a little disheartening. However, it is astonishing what a cun of tea and a night’s rest will do, so next morning wo attacked tho big hill which lay before us with new heart and hope, but it was a long, long pull and tlie constant descents when we thought the top had been reached, only to find that another ascent must bo made, got a little monotonous, and tho shoulders ached, perspiration poured down, and legs began to require more frequent rests as time went on, and still there wero more roots of trees to step over and' high steps to scramble up to, and deep ruts to negotiate, while the bicyclo would persist in gettin™ into the most awkward positions, and fre-

quently caught in the most unexpected branches of trees.

But all things come to an end to him who goes on,,anil -at length the top was actually reached, and the descent, which was looked forward to for so long, begun in earnest. Huiarau was conquered, and by midday we had struck the Government 4ft track, which descends by a beautiful grade for about 12 miles to Ruataouna. Then it was that the full beauty and glory of tho scenery could be taken in, for the track being a cutting along the side of a hill,, the magnificent bush-covered mountains, stretching away, range beyond range, as far as the eye could see, wore revealed in all their grandeur. Few, if any, parts of the North Island can show such fine bush scenery or such wealth of ferns and mosses.

From here onwards through _ 40 miles of bush the road winds, developing, after 12 miles, (that is, from near liuataliuna) into a cart road with a fine surface and a grade equal to any in the Dominion, continuing through To Whaiti and Galatea on to Rotorua. This will undoubtedly we one of the favorite tourist routes of the North Island, whe lithe ten miles referred to above has _ been roaded, so that travellers wishing w reach Rotorua from the East Coast will go right through from Wairoa by Lake Waikuremoana and from • there, 100 miles of interesting travelling will bring them to Rotorua. We were unable to stop at Ruatahuna as we had hoped to' do, owing to the fact that our provisions had run short and we heard that the people of Ruatahuna, having been away, were also without food, so wo had to push on to Te Mimi, which was reached at dark and whero our stock was replenished. The natives of this little kainga received us kindly and after staying the night there, we went on next day to Te Whaiti, a distance of about 18 miles through beautiful country that man’s hand had scarcely touched. The people of To Whaiti made us very comfortable in their semi-Euro-pean hall, which served as a Church and a sleeping-place for us. At their wish we had service with them both at night and the following morning, and in their speeches of welcome wo learned that two of the old men who spoke were pupils of Bishop Selw.vn and were pleased to hear again the old ‘karakih.’ Hero our Maori minister and his wife left us to return with the pack horse to Wairoa by another route. He had had quite enough of the route we bad taken and would not undertake it a second time. The horses, too, were tired and needed a rest, so he remained a day or two at Te Whaiti where wo bid them farewell and continued the journey to Rotorua, cycling forty ‘miles that day with a punctured tv re which required continual pumping over the last 20 miles. This brought us to Wmiotapu at dark and the next day we were in Rotorua having covered 200 miles since we left Gisborne. The Government has done splendid work in the road that has been made between Rotorua and Ruatahuna and also the fine track beyond, and when it has finished the ton miles between that and the lake, there will be nothing to prevent cyclists going through from Waikaremoana to Rotorua and finding in it one of tlie finest journeys in the country.