ROADING WEKALAND

Hokitika Guardian, 15 September 1927, Page 4

ROADING WEKALAND

(Auckland Star). Sir Thomas Alackenzie in his younger days did a lot of tramping and some useful exploring in the great southern fiordland and in bis enthusiasm for tile development o-f that region accounts for his reading suggestion put forward in the Legislative Council. Sir Thomas wants the Government to undertake the job of linking up the east and west sides of Otago by a wheel road via the Greenstone. HollyforcJ and Cleddau Rivers. Probably few of his colleagues and very few of the general public realise exactly the magnificent dimensions of the roading task thus summarised. The making of the Otira transalpine highway was a trifling item by coinpavisimi with what this would involve.

The Greenstone River flews into the west side of Lake AVakatipu. near the head. The Ilollyford flows the other way. into Lake AlcKerrow, at the head of Martin’s Bay, north of Afilford Sound. The Cleddau f10w.4 still another lircction, from the glaciers of AlountTntoko, some SOOOft high, into the head of Afilford Sound. The region intervening between AVakatipu and Afilford is a land of very wild and splendid landscapes and still more splendid difficulties. It is all gorge and cliff, snowy mountain and alpine torrent . AA ild ’ scenery enough to fit out a- continent with tourist routes, and a tremendous land for big engineering stunts. Given a. quarter or half a-m-illion or so, a genius in road making could build awonderful tourist, highway here until he came to the granite battlements of Mount Tutoko and the other sheerdowns Iberabouts and then he’d want another quarter-million fo get- down the valley of the Cleddau and so to Afilford Sound. A’ery little really is known about that section of the suggested route. The only man who ever scaled or partly sealed, the thousands of almost vertical reel: at the head of t’:o C.laddau, a str-.-r-yor named Quill, wits killed there. That was sometime after lie bud climbed the tremendous precipice over which tile Sutherland -Fall tv.in’-lo'\ Tile only way of getting round that awful Cleddau head precipice is to got through it; a tunnel through, trio granite rock whose length no uu’.u. has yet estimated would he net< v.'iy. .'.nil bo-.v many other tunnels would b" needed, and how much, carving ©i roadway out of the solid reck would b- necessary not even "ir I .annas .».««*“ koiu'io could say. There is a liorse track cf a sort the kind the hard-? V' --! ( ;n,:a can nse. between the Crents*.am.: tout k-.si• and-forgotten settlement Ala' tin ■ Bay. Tint there is sir- getting l ! * ford Sound that way. homo time, when New Zealand has a lew scores of millions to play with, it may tackle the Mackenzie notion. But h r the present tlio tourist will have to content i-ooself with the '."amp over McN ill noil’s Pass from lake To Allan. AVe ohnll he flying to Afdford by special tourist aeroplane l:mg before t e speedways for avalanches are tamed for motor traffic, and tv that time wo won’t need them. —-TANGIWAT.