A REMINISCENCE OF A SOUTHERN HOLIDAY.

Hutt News, Volume 2, Issue 50, 22 May 1930, Page 2

A REMINISCENCE OF A SOUTHERN HOLIDAY.

It was a great relief after the Canterbury Plains .(which, beiirg v thorough hill-loving Huttite, I find very trying), to set .out from Christ church. one perfect summer, morning for Ar : thur's Pass; —the Canterbury side of Otira. Our destination' was the Roileston Gda^ier, Aft. Rolleston being jus* on the left of tie Otira Tunnel. The journey took about four and a half hours, and it was with a thrill I realised that we we-re climbing into the mountainous country, the region of turbulent riverSj.m<J|iinli^iin^torrents, rugged hills, ferns, mountain flowers and snow. We. reached Arthur's Pass at' about 12.30, having left at 8 a.m. . Everybody bundled out and rushed for the restaurant, and after partaking of a hurried JaMLch started ofi^ on our five-mile walk.

The-country was exceedingly beautiful tight from the start. Just a little distance off was the entrance to the Otifa tunnel and one felt it was something even to see it. though we were not to go through. We climbed- steadily up through a region of bush and nioun/tain flowers. Very soon we saw the '' Bridal Veil" and the "Devil's Punch Bowl," two wonderful waterfalls cascading dawn the. opposite hills. This locality had a special interest for me, for, prolb-. tubly nearly forty years ago, my father .had driven through hiere with a party in a buggy and six -horses. I couldn't help wondering as I peered down the ' precipitous side of the Hill 'to the stony region below, how a coach and six evte-r . got throiigh f roni Greymouth to Bealey in those remote days. Well, to, retorn to the present journey. After a beautiful walk up hill and down dale, through picturesque bushy .country, we emerged on the banks of a tempestuous mountain torrent, dashing its way ov>er huge rocks and forming miniature water falls, their spray scintillating in the sun, and in tlie bush on either side were exquisite lqng-ste-mni'ed silky-petalled mountain daisies, and just here, something rather amusing occurred, I had hopped from rock to rock, and had reached the other side of the stream when I was endeavouring to secure a good photograph. I was perched on a •rock admiring the exquisite beauty of the scene—for by this time Alt. Eollest<on was straight in front—when I became aware of a weird rustling in the undergrowth near the. edge of the water. The source of the disturbance proved to be a. man —and a man who was very weJl pleased witih himself— for the time-being! He had been engaged in the 'happy pastime osf plucking these daisies, and was triumphantly ex- : Mbiting a gorgeous bunch of them.-Un- j fortunately I had just been informed toy a rather sanctimonious person that the penalty for such an act was £100, so- j I passed this rather disturbing news on to him. I can't be exactly sure what' followed, but I think the flowers were secreted in ti>e thick of the undergrowth! JC- exeurse my words now by remembering that, for an (hour and a half previous, to this, I had been resisting an almost irresistible impulse to pick thosie same daisiesT—or similar' ones! Now, hear the end. I was .discussing this cruel, prohibitive law witih the guide who explained—-of course we were nearly back by then —that we 'were allowed to pick the sweet things, but that all tihe authorities objected to •was such vandalistie performances as pulling up smaU bush trees, ferns, etc and, as frequently happened, throwing them away. .

Well, to continue out journey. Just a few h/umdred yaTds ahead of us waa Mt. Rolleston Glacier. It was a thriving moment for me "wibeoa I first set _foot on ice : for it was my first experience, and after amusedly watching those ahead getting over the glacier like so many inebriates, found, when 1 £ot there, thai I was no more expert! It was a wondrous scene. In front, Mt. Bollesrfcon, enow-clad, cone-shaped, majestic: alii around us, snow—and crowning: all, the cloudless sky otf a perfect suu&uer day. But we were not left long to meditate, for already, afhead of us, the' fun was fast and furious. Utilising bits of board, linoleum and corrugated iron, dozens of our party ■were having the time of their lives — glissading, reminiscent of that nail* racking performance on the piano. Well,

we glissated hard till, all too soon, the ti'nie came for the return. Tlhere was just tin element of danger,!.for the giude was steep, an.d by t-he time I had glissaded" .twice, I was soake-d to the skin, but from the other, side.of the course came "That, doesn't matter! v "Come on!" "Jiust one ' more"!— in

spite of the fact that the toboggan, almost invariabily side-tracked within t-he first few foci and one simply glissaded on—nothing —but snow! We had met'a--friend .at> Arthur's Pass who had kindly1 promised to have the ket!til'e boiling on .our return, and our nioutlhs did lite-rally water at tbe thought—fox , it was hat! We reached the friendly shelter of the >ottage to find our h'ds-'----tees -infinitely hotter than we, stoking away-.at a fine, that absolutely refused to burn and privately, wheii I saw it, I didn't wonder!' However, we thanked her for her kind<intentions, herioically assured her that "/ rt did not matter at all," ran for the .train — Slid caugib.t it! Bespitc niy;. superior Wellington -attitude, I -havfe never seen anything so : colourful as those Canterbury Plains that perfect... summer evening. They■ brought to mind a book by' Ethel M. Bichardson-Bie-e, in whiclh are published the letters of the late Charles Godfrey Turner. A phase in one of them struc^"me as being peculiarly descriptive of the w.onder of tlhe Haiiis that night. He speaks of the cocksfoot "shimmering like shot-silk. Tthe exquisite. mauves, greens, eveTy.imaginable -colour—all shimmering at the sunset, and ever and anon, the dark mystery of those plantations. It was •ah excursion to be remembered and we 'glided into the Christchuroh station feeling- that the beauty of. the day

would stay long with us, and tihankful that as we -had seeuxed "snap's" we should always have tangible reminder of our delight£ul excursion.