NATURE’S GRANDEUR

Hokitika Guardian, 15 February 1933, Page 3

NATURE’S GRANDEUR

A TRIP TO TOAROHA SPILNGS

THE HUT OF TRANQUILITY.”

There has lately been' discovered (or ne-discovered) a peace where persons of til* rii-bst modc.se means, m fact, 1 might almost say of no means at all, may, if they ,30 wish, enjoy tin at mental and physical solace till now denied tln m (w‘'itvs a. correspondent,' W.J.C.)* I speak of the Tuarolia Hot 'Springs,- a few miles from the .end'of the Uppei kokatahi I-.oaJ.

To be .quite sure the writer tried it himself, making,op* of a party of about a dOi.Cn. persons, Loth ladies and gentlemen. Last month the party left the e nd •of the road, crossed the several streams', dry-shod, thanks to th e use of a hon e, and before long gained the track thebeginning of which had been made some twenty-five years cigo when the first Springs Hut was built. Unfortunately this good work -wag discontinued', and we had not the pleasure of the smooth well-defined track for long. After about three hours’ walking, more or l fi s-s parallel with the Toaroha River we came to the halfAvay halting place, whore tip-, billy is usually boiled. Herb, what wretchedness! The wind began to bl°w and the rain to patter down through the leafy branches, go pack up the cups and awav.

It is not my intention to tk'orjbo the latter half, nor in fact any half, of that journey—but hbw the thunder i-oIL ed ] how the ri.ver reared, how the rain poured down our necks and how great the joy when 'at last we slid down into a little clearing—and ther e wa s tho hut.

The new hut has been up but half n vear, built w'th money raised by popular subserption and the proceed, 5 of dances field in Kokatahi. Tlie two mm who hui't it. ..-tout fellows, left a fine stack of ready cut firewood outside the door. It did my heart good to see it. While the lady members of th e party mgde for th e hot pool a few chains away, the men put .smoke up ,tp that, when the first batch of hatihers returned to change, there was a roaring firp to greet them. Now was the m ,e n’.s, turn to make closer acquaintance with this strange spring whose l3 ulphurOi\s afoma had been Aot»d a mile back in the bush.

We were all soaked to the iskm. and by this time beginning to i feel cold and stiff as through the swirling mountain creek we scrambled to wiher e before nd lay the magic pciol, modestly enclosed on three sides by a low wall of small rocks and timber, and on the . fourth by a little cliff from under which the thermal waters seemed to trickle. Som e took off their clinging shirts, come took off their squelching some tumbled in clothes and boots stssd all. The water proved delightTullyisplt and waUn. The wild fuchsias and sweet-scented rib-. bpn-woods hui’g, low overhead—tfi e rain still' fe11... But who minded the rain now, sitting in comfort in that wild spot? We said “If we stay he-re long enough the raja may -stop.” We s t «y e d an hour and it did, so back t;> the hut to tea and to dry sopping garments, and when night fell, to sleep, those who would.

Now by all Die .rules of the game, all these people after a great amount of unwonted exercise, a thorough soaking. a night spent in cot too dry blankets should . hav? been stiff and sore in the morning, but no, rot a complaint, not eve.n a visiting mosquito to complain of. 0, kindly spring!. A bright dawn found at least one of the party in the pool. Some .suggested that he had been left th e r 0 overnight, but that is not so. 1 myself saw him steal out just as the stars began to fade and the fire in the hut to burn Jow. Underground the demon stoke-s must have bo ( .n working overtime, for the water in the pool was ihofc; as love, 'but/Kour guide points out that it was cooler last night because rain water was trickling in. If it s too hot, throw in some cold • if it stoo cold throw in some hot from one of th e steaming seepages nearby. Bountiful nature, h. and c. laid on.

I believe, my townspeople, that here one may do all the highly priced tricks we read about from Rotorua or Yellowstone Park. Catch your fish in the cold water, cook him ill the hot; grow your humble ‘spucP on the bank and boil it in the pool; and nothing to pay. What you don’t need for bathing put in bottles for drinking-—as we did. Clear the .soft rock from around a little spring and start a bottle and jug department for yourself—the water is of proven virtue, taken inside or out. -

But I must leave this spring business, loathe as .1 am to do it; there are other attractions in this wonderful valley. There are cataracts and canyons, waterfalls and • woodlands, keas and kakas, and pigeons in plenty. For those who crave meat and have the lust to kill there-are deer; for those who would botanise there are- subalpines of exquisite colour; for those Wlho would mountaineer —well take you pick. Then there’s the pair of handsome blue mountain duck that sit on a great flat-topped rock in the swirling waters, that dicVu’t mind being looked at but won’t stand for the camera. The fabulous hammer-headed trout in the gloomy pool higher up, that everybody has heard about but nobody has seen. Or is it tales of mystery and imagination you crave? Take down the visitors’ book that hangs in the but, and read the sad story of the unfortunate young man who went mad for sheer joy, died in an ecstacy and was buried under the fireplace. Of course you’re ’not asked, to believe the awful story, but jat least read it and judge for yourself. What more would you have,'- all gratis and post free ? I see no reason why a man with a

good companion, a clear conscience, and a little tobacco could not stay in this charming valley from now till winter comes, providing that they had previously arranged with the ravens (or .some, well-wisher) to bring them a little food occasionally. But wc had to go. back, • and ‘ in the pleasant return journey we forgot the wet miseries of that way of the day before. ... If this brief account of one of our natural schools of peace, so near at hand, should tempt others j to make the trip, I venture to suggest j that jit would be a dainty man to please who is not satisfied, especially if the company of one of the Itokatabi stalwarts (who are most enthusiastic jin this matter) could be ’ obtained to act as guide*