WEST COAST SOUNDS

Hokitika Guardian, 21 October 1931, Page 3

WEST COAST SOUNDS

BEAUTIES OF MILFORD. NAVAL WRITER’S ELOQUENT TRIBUTE. in the course of her cruises H.M.S. Diomede has visited many places of g. oraphical and historical interest, all of which come in for their share of publicity in The Diomede Chronicle, ; the first naval magazine produced in England. As a literary effort its excellence is suen that it enjoys a wide circulation all over the globe and (Uently any reference to New Zealand’s charms contained in it is a splendid; advertisement for the Dominion. “ / ,

The cruiser upon her arrival at Bluff on Tuesday afternoon brought to a close a most enjoyable voyage around the West Coast Sounds which will receive full prominence in the next quarterly issue, its fourth, of the magazine. Through the courtesy ol the editor (Leading Signalman Reginald P. V. Hayter) the article, written by “Gadabout,” was made available for publication in the Southland Times and is reprinted hereunder: — “Sailing from Wellington at 5 p.m. on October 6 the magnificent and state lv harbour with its many fine bays was soon left , far behind and a course set to pass down the west coast of the South Island. The weather, fortunately although a head wind was. blowing, was fine. Little happened to make the journey interesting on the first day and the night passed without any untoward incidents. By the following day, however, the weather had set in dull and very misty and doubts were expressed as to the advisability of making the passage through the sounds, hut as has so often proved to he the case in this connection the weather experts were wrong. Steaming down the coast was anything hiit a joy and litt'e if anything at all was seen of . it. Mount Cook was passed, but not seen on the evening of October 7. On the following morning conditions had improved somewhat and now and again snow-clad peaks could he seen occasionally raisin" their lofty heads over the low-lying cloud banks,

UNSURPASSED 'BEAUTY. “As the ship turned landwards to make the entrance to Mi [lord vvound tile clouds lose as if by magic ,revealing a scene which one feels sure c°"iu he . surpassed . nowhere in the world. Those on deck —and there were manyhad a most remarkable 'jew oi the, snow-clad Southern Alps. With the continued rising of the clouds the snow tipped peaks of Mount. Aspiring (9840) feet) and Mount Earnslaw lover 9000 feet) were visible, the whole presenting a wonderful scenic effect. Miiford Sound, which we were approaching, is the most famous of m ny beauti ful sounds which go to nuke up New Zealand’s Fiordland. The , exquisite charm of the scenery as we pass through tli eentrance defies descrip ion No words, however elcqi ent cou.d do justice to the scene. Majestic peaks tower skywards whichever wav wo look. Mitre Peak (5500 feet) is particularly prominent to us as we p ss through into the sound. It stands out in hold relief alongside its less majestic brothers. The sound is, in places, 600 feet wide and its walls stretch to a lieig! t of 55600 feet. Bushelad hills dm right to the water’s edge-,- adding t • the beauty of the snow-clad peaks high above them. “Truly one wonders at the plendour of Nature revealed here in all her glory. Yet another gem in this marvellous vision is the huge number of cascades and waterfalls which dot the mountain side. Stirling Falls and Bo en Falls are the most attractive amongst many beautiful falls and lea\e us gasping. Sirens are sounded and a gun fired, the sound echoing and reechoing through the founds. At the head of the sounds we turn our hows sen wards und stop our engines whilst a party from the hostel nearby came on board to greet us. The admiral le '- es the bridge to-talk to tic visitors, and we remain at the >ead of the sound for close on an hour. 'A photographer goes away in a boat and tak-s a photograph of tlm ship. The conditions. although not ideal from n photographer’s point of view, were good. The Sutherland Falls to which all visitors to the sounds visit, were unfortunately ton far un the sound to be visible to us and we "ere ,pliable to take the ship any further so had to he content with other falls.

cameras clicking everywhere. “Gazing with rapture at the scene laid out before us, it is .easy to undeistand why tourists pay hundreds o' pounds to visit these very spots which we were seeing and one can appreciate still further the truth of all that has been written of New Zealand’s tioidland. Work had long since been stopped and cameras clicked everywhere.,ln deed the number of cameras in evidence on this particular occasion must have been a record—for this commission any wav. From the head of the sounds one may take a walk down the famous Milford track. This track, 33 miles long, is one of the. if not the most famous in the world Lake Wakati ui can also he reached on foot from the head of the sound. Wap : ti. red deer, and ehamois abound in the low hilh as also do wild nig. A verjfcible sportman’s paradise indeed. Shortly aH° n we say an revior to our visitors and continue our journey o' t to seauay again. By noon we are clear of Alii-

ford and heading for George Sound, which we enter about an hour later.

Tliis sound extends some 12 miles inland. Its beauty, although not so rugged in comparison with Millord, is indeed glorious. Thickly wooded hills rise on either side of us with all the multi-shades of green which Nature can produce.

“Here and there we see a snow-clad peak rising above the hush-clad hills like a huge giant trying to peer at us over the heads of some lesser mounts. The average width of the sound is three-quarters of a mile, and, as in Millord [found. we take soundings with the deep sea lead as we make the passage through. ■ ■ Amongst these bushelad hills numerous waterfalls can be seen, the waters tumbling over the rocks and into the placid waters below. Captain Cook is recorded as having said that the sounds of New Zealand are the finest in the . world, and indeed one wonders where even' such a travelled man as Cook could have found more glorious examples o Nature than those which we pictured to-day. A little after 2 o’clock we anchored in George Sound, where we remained until Saturday, October 10. The weather during tli etwo days’ stay was unfortunately,, far, from good. Rain fell unceasingly from 10 o’clock that evening until Saturday morning when, after a brief break, it started again. This necessitated a cancellation of the proposed visit to Thompson Sound and the nearby group which it was intended to visit. In consequence of the very poor visibility which wou’d have made the trip unpleasant the journey to Preservation Inlet was made direct and after a wet hut otheiwise not unpleasant passage, anchor was dropped at the inlet at 2 o’clock, and the journey to Bluff some 90 odd miles further, was continued.”