WESTEAND HEVITED

Hokitika Guardian, 8 March 1922, Page 4

WESTEAND HEVITED

A TRIP TO THE FRANZ JOSEF

GLACIER

(llawkcs Hay Herald, Feb. 25th)

(Contributed)

between twenty and thirty years ago when living, in Canterbury, it was my fortune' to spend somfe of my summer holidays on the West Coast. This year, when seeking for a change, m> mind turned again to Westland, chiefly with the idea of visiting the Franz Josef and of seeing something of South Westland. To the average North Islander this is a far country, and a few impressions regarding my trip may be of interest to some of your readers. A-s the main’ purpose of my visiting the Coast was to see the glacier, let me deal with that first. All the information I could' gfet before leaving Napier was comprised in the sentence “From Hokitika, rail to Ross, coach to Franz Josef, 70 miles, return to Hokitika,' six days required, cost about , .C 4.” This proved something like title hoy’s statement that a seal is a sort of ■si fish that lives on land, having fom legs and covered with wool. It gave j. sortie general indications, but every de-l-tail was wrong. Even at the (Jovern- * ment Tourist Bureau in Wellington, 5 we got no further up-to-date informatilin'" Tire above facts .were nearly true a year ago, but are no longer so. A motor service has been running between Hokitika and the glacier for months. It is c ommonly a one day’s journey, but if the rivers are high it may take longer; and in crossing the mi bridged rivers there may lie trouble. Tim motor fare from Hokitika is return'. We learned before reaching Hokitika that the hotel at Wailio (the Cl lacier Hotel) had been booked full for weeks past, that- the previous week eighty prospective guests had been declined, and that persons wlro bad tried to hook rooms two months hack had boon promised only shake-downs. Act we bad been told that there was no necessity to book ahead. The fact is, that this is now one of the most sought after places by South Islanders , who desire a holiday, an’d the information i regarding it is well known on the east coast of the South Island. On arriving in Hokitika we interviewed Mr Clements, the motor proprietor, as to what to do. He advised going on. j Anyone who has had experience of the I \v s t Coast knows the hospitable cluir- | actor of the people, and I, for one. had 1 no doubt that we should he taken in : and stowed somewhere. 1 Tiki journey south from Hokitika is 1 line of interest for the whole way. Oil

tlie right, through' the bush, for the first thirty miles or so of the journey, j one gets freqent glimpses of the sea. Then Lliie road turns more definitely inward toward the snow-capped mountains on the loft. River after river is crossed, and such rivers as we are not • used to in the North Island great a ide stretches of rough shingle, sometimes half-a-milc, or more, wide. The road consists of a track joining together the crossing places over the rivers. These are often bridged near where they issue from the mountains to the coastal plain, but the fords seem to be almost anywhere. It will give one an idea of the difficulty and expense of ensuring means of communication, when it is mentioned that the bridge over the Hokitika River at the town is three-quarters of a mile in length. Between the rivers, the road winds across the flats, or over the spurs that run down from the main range between the river valleys. The traveller gets only small views of the • mountains as a rule, partly because of the bush, and partly because one is too close under them to see anything but the lower hills; but a good view of the range, say from the breastwork at Hokitika, if the visitor is fortunate enough to get one, is a sight of a life- . time.

We started from Hbkitika, three ears full—twenty-four in all; and,, having crossed the Hokitika river by the upper bridge, made our way through odd dairy farms set between heaps of old tailings, or through patches of bush where sawmills were at work. The gold-miner took what he could get near tlie surface, and loft the land a waste of boulders. So the old sluicing towns are now hut ghosts of their former selves. Only where the miner found nothing can the dairj man make a living, and perhaps, not always thiere. But Hokitika is having a new lease of life because of the timber export and the growing dairying industry. Ross is one of the old goldmining towns, but it survives because id the bush around it.

Beyond Ross we pass odd clearings in the bush, now climbing a spur, now dropping into l a river valley. We cross the Mikonui, and come to the Little Waitaha, the first river where the car has to be towed. A bridge over the river is just completed, hut the approaches to it are not. The luggage is bundled into tlie car. two strong horses are hitched on, and, while the car is pulled through the river, we make our way over a riektetv suspension bridge. In the car again, we skirt another spur and are stopped at a narrow place by a heavy motor lorry laden with cheese from factories further south. The road is never wide, and requires a little

manoeuvring to pass in safety,. Wo c 'continue' clifhbing through tlie bush j with all 1 itr wealth' of fern and creeper, \ here fed with' rata bloSsoliV, or with t scarlet mistletoe, tlrefe a green hill- i side 1 showing the innumerable shades ( of green- characteristic of New Zealand * bush. We descend quickly and cross | i the Ffig Waitnha, which' is bridged. We I (‘limb again', and this time drop sud- i dCtiiy t 6 the little lake laftthe. The driver obligingly stops for a! few min- j ntes to let us delight ourselves in its j beauty. The water on - the' West Coast i is generally brown in colour, and when j it is still, the reflections are amazingly perfect. This is to be noticed in | every lake. On again/until we come | to the wide bed of the Wanganui. Much of the' lhnd hereabout is cleared, and quite a settlement has sprung up —Hari Hari. HCrfe we stop for lunch. In the spring, when the rivers are at tlveir highest, it is sometimes necessary to stop longer. It might be as well to note that in the winter, the rivers' near their sources are frozen and the crossing is then not difficult. We have accomplished 45 miles out of the 93 from llCkitika to Waibo. Oh the road once more, we come to the Little Wanganui, where we have again to be towed. There is no bridge at all hero, so we have to sit in the car. Then begins the climb over Mt Hercules, over a thousand feet up This is one of the finest parts of the road, the hush being particularly grand, and the road itself remarkable for its steep gradients and sharp turns. The hill passed, we descend on to the Wataroa Flat. Near the bottom i of the bill is Lake Rotokino, a beauty spot, but off the road. The Wataroa lias a very broad bed, and the wide extent of level land is apparently all taken up and mostly cleared. Mere, I believe, is the southernmost dairy factory at present in Westland. Having crossed this plain, we came to the Wftitangi—it was no water of weeping to us, hut rather of laughter, r..,. «•£> atm.L- iii the middle. No per-

suasions on tlie part of the drivers could move the ear, so attempts were made to tow us by one of the other ears, blit to little purports, ft was then decided to lichen the car, by carrying the passengers ashore, the last ladies to leave the ear having to face the fire of the cameras of those taken first. Hence the laughter. 'lh ear was then dragged and pushed ashore. During this time, two private cars, one from Napier, had arrived on .tijjs* scene, and one of these had to h>. towed out, after nearly succeeding in crossing the river. It will he understood that- the ears try to keep together on the road in order to render mutual assistance. Anil her!', i mild m make mention of the amicable qualities of the chauffeurs on the road, Freddie, ami "Algy,” otherwise called Bill, and F" ;; ic ai- household names along the road, and they are deservedly popular. It is no light matter, for instance, to mg out of the car into ice-cold water up to your knees, and'fiddle about with an obstreperous car, while other people !o :k on. Now and again the delay at these rivers is no laughing matter; cars have been known to he stuck for : many hours. Things having been righted; we made another start through the bush along the shores of Bake AYahapo until we came to Okarito Forks where the read divides', one branch going towards Okarito and the sea, the other inland to the mountains. We passed the shores of a larger lake, Mnpourika; and shortly a filer leaving this we had our fiist sight of the dazzling white of the glacier. Soon we reached the hotel aval acre made comfortable by Mr ('jlr.diPm, the proprietor. As to the glacier itself, I should hardly need to say anything. It is one of the most noted in the world. Rising in the Snows of Kroii Priwz Rudolf, Mont de In Roche and the Mina net Peaks at a height of about toft thousand feet, it dim;ends in about nine miles to less than seven hundred feet above sea In': I. ft and its neighbour, the Fox, :TFe. the lowest glaciers outside the • Ay. lie regions. On' the other side of the .Southern Alps, none of the glaciers reach below 2500 feet above sea level. If one notices that its fall is about one thousand l fWet in a mile, lie will not he surprised that its surface is very rugged, and that it moves with the surprising speed at places of sixteen l> t a day. Tlu> Tasman, on the opposite side of the range, has a speed of eighteen inches. There is an absene. of moraine on the Frans -Josef that different iat ex it from the glaciers on the eastern side of the range. There is almost none on if. and tl ? cb arnesof the ice' adds to' its interest' to' thy \ w Zealander, for our glaciers uA generally covered with moraine. The Franz -Josef, too, is different from other glaciers in that its course may he said to he through tropical- rather Mian alpine vegetation. On the eastern side of the range, the* hush, such as there is, might Ire* said to Ire sub-Arc-tic. ft is only by climbing three or four thousand feet up on the western side that \Ye can get alpine plants at all.

The? re arc rfi'any inter sh'irjV vhilfc* that can be taken from the Glacier : SoK There are pniiefes for tfro bertefit of climbers hut unless one is prepared for very serious work in this respect, the number of trios on l.e iec is limited. If the climber i: an expcrl he 1:1 : or!, 1 !: liere, as many thr-'iN as e wishes. A visit shoal! be iit <th to the Fox («lacier, and to the Gallery. About a mile ad a half tram the lied el arc some hot springs where cue may have a hath. The water is pumped out of the bed of the river tintvirig Ironi the iee. One other object of interest to the North (.‘.lander will he ti e he as. Quite a number of these are io he seen close round the hotel, where they are not molested, and I'eir curious antics and their inqui-Tiveness are a constant source of amusement. Altogether, a most enjoyable holiday may he spent at AVailio, and any inieiidin ; cisii'ir mav lie assured that his comfort v.ill he well Inch'd after by Air Graham and his assistan's. To such T would say go as soon as possible. Go if you can next year, for the rain will he in flower then. If von delay a year or two there may Me stteh changes in South Westlaiul as will rob the road of much if its beauty and interest. May I add a word as to clothing. Most people have an idea that it must ho very cold on a glacier. It may be, but it may be unbearably hot. One needs to be prepared for either heat or cold. And, may I add, that the sandflies quite appro vie of the present lashions in low necks, short sleeves, and

:>bweb stockings. Tlic I leasts are veiy . lentiful, very sanguinary, and very | ersistent. T should say. mind | lie fashions, Imi take thick stockings ml warm clothes. K is easy to dir-, ard something if the day is hoi. 1 j houhl also point out that heavy boot* i or visitors are provided at the hotel or a nominal foe And do not take ■lothing. of which the dyes will run. Sometimes it gets wet in tlie rivers. | The n< ?xt few years will, I believe iee surprising ebanges in South "Westland. Tne building of a few more it is being done as quick ly a s possible—will open up gjreat areas of land to occupation. The motor lorry is taking the pla«e of the railway in the development of the country. I doubt if it will pay to extend the railway further than it runs at present. The lorry will serve the country better and at less expense. There is plenty of road metal everywhere so that good roads can be assured. But ( the present road will require widening and in some places regrading; and, in doing this, much of the bush will be destroyed. The country is going to be a great dairying country—probably it will not be as good as - Taranaki foi the land is sure to be patchy and the climate will be colder. Yet, I was told that they had only three frosts at Waiho last year. Stock, seems to do surprisingly well, and land is cheap. If a port further south than Hokitika could be formed, there would be little trouble as to transport and the immense timber supplies could be put upon the market. There is, I understand, some effort being made by the Forestry Department to conserve these timber supplies; but I could hear of nothing in the way of restriction, and I wonder if anything lias been done. There arc thousands of acres outside the scenic reserves from which it will not pay to remove the bush, but there aro great flats from which the bush must be cleared The only question is whether any use can bo made of the fim.Kp.r

It is by no means certain that gold mining on the coast is dead. Ojrily three miles out of Hokitika, on Iqhd which one would suppose was well prospected in the early days, 'the Rim u Dredging Co., is doing well. Any visitor to the Coast should see this dredge at work-. It' is believed that there are few plants in the world that are its equal in effieiency. The whole is driven by electricity, and a rough estimate made was that it was lifting continuously, night and day, one hundred tons of spoil. The dredge cuts a track forty feet deep, and about a hundred feet' wide, And was said to be producing over £2OO worth of gold a week. 1 heard talk of a. bigger dredge to cutsixty or seventy leet deep. I do not know whether the above facts are quite correct, but F am sure that if goldmining can be made to pay, some such system as at work here is most likely to be profitable. -Every visitor to the dredge should ask to have the automatic time chart explained to him. ft of itself will give one a clear idea o) the perfection of the working. On tiie whole, however I do not think the gold-mining industry is good for the country, whether little or much gold is got from the workings. The land is ruined for everything else lor all time. Can anything be more desolate than the heaps of tailing lett all over Northern Westland? Westland almost more than any other part of New Zealand is suffering for the lack of a good port. The opening of the Midland Railway next year may help in providing an outlet foj- its products It will most likely increase the number of tourists to the Coast. Those passing through the tunnel will miss almost- the whole of the beauties of Otira. To see these it will be necessary to stay a day at least at Otira or Arthur’s Pass and to walk over the top. But the railway is bound to make gome difference to the outlook of Westland, and 1 would say to'any strong young man looking to dairying land, and who is able to stand the wet climate, make some inquiries about South Westland and go and sec for yourself. The old- shades that served the miner twenty yrftis back are being replaced by the decent houses of the farmer, and machines are doing the greater part of his work. At Wniho, electricity fur the hotel is produced on the grounds and is used for sawing timber and such like. There is enough water power going to waste on the West Coast to do all the work of N e w Zealand. Km- settlers near the sea the power would have to be transmitted, but a-co-operative dairy factory can also be a power supplier. One would no doubt bo cut off from town, life, but there are eoni| ensat-ioiki. Tlieie is an opening here for the man who is willing to rough it fir a little while, and tlm possibilities for the future are great. The roughing need be only for a time. It seems to me certain that the next twenty years will see greater changes in this part of Now Zealand than in ally other.