A UNIQUE HONEYMOON.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4928, 20 January 1926, Page 4

A UNIQUE HONEYMOON.

YOUNG COUPLE’S EXPERIENCES.

ADVENTURES IN THE WILDS

The lure of the unknown attracts all sorts of people a,t times, and the holiday season generally sees a number of adventurous spirits leave the congested areas, of towns and cities for the untrodden paths that are so numerous in New Zealand. Perhaps one of the most interesting tours of investigation undertaken this Christmas, was that of a, young couple wno walked from Kingston to Dunedin, sleeping in the open and encountering a number of experiences on the way.

A newly-married couple recently passed through Palmerston en route to the Dunedin Exhibition (states the “Dominion.”) Although strictly speaking the honeymoon period had passed, the young people decided that they would spend their real honeymoon in the open) Both were fond of the open spaces and devotees to the steadily growing sport of tramping. Last week they reached Dunedin, and, writing to a friend in Palmerston, the bridegroom describes his travels in a graphic manner. SLEEP IN THE SCRUB. "On arrival, at Kingston we started out to walk round Lake Wak.atipu, he writes, "and after walking through heavy bracken fern we struck a lainstorm, which wet us .through, and prevented us reaching pur objective ■that night—'the Devil’s Staircase. We found a dry spot, however, under some manuka scrub, made a cup of tea under extreme difficulties, and rolled up in our blankets for the night. I rose at 5 the next morning, and a..Pter a light breakfast we dried our clothes and pushed on over the Remarkables and down a very narrow track for about ten milies, in .the blazing suit. The scenery is truly remarkable about this district, and we passed hundreds of waterfalls and rivers, many of which have rarely been seen, sjs few people have ever undertaken the walk. IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. “The next stage we commenced, at 1 p.m. on Monday, and still kept to the mountain in preference to the load. Late .in the afternoon w’e came to the end of the lake at Queenstown, jtis.t where .the overflow leaves' and forms the K.awai'au River, where, just at the outlet, they are building a, great bridge and dam to stop the flow of the water so .that they can carry on gold mining many miles down the riveit After passing an hotel, .where we had some refreshments, we were given a lift in a. motar-car, but after we had travelled some ten miles we found we had beenh, taken in the wrong direction. However, we walked on and slept that night under a hedge oni some hay. It was. the best sleep we had had since we started. WILD GAME. “We were , up bright .and early the next ihorniiig, not wishing to be discovered by the owner of the hedge, and after walking for a few hours a rabbit came tearing along our pa ( th. By good luck I managed .to put my foot on it, and my wife carried a live rabbit with her until we decided t& have breakfast While the meal was being prepared I killed the animal, but we did not eat it until next morning. We then walked another few miles through the Ka,warau Gorge, which is beautiful but somewhat terrifying. The river runs very fast, and it gives one an unpleasant feeling to look down on .the whirlpools. Here we enjoyed a feed of wild cherries and gooseberries, and a little -later were picked up by a bus, which took us to Cromwell. We then set out for Clyde, which is thirteen miles 1 away, and were picked up by another car,, which took us through to Alexandra. We then had a,,late dinner and walked until 9 o’clock, it still being twilight We travelled through the fruitlands, which provided a remarkable sight, thousands of trees, bearing fruit of many kinds. That night we again slept in the open, under a. pine hedge, with pine needles as a mattress. PROVISIONS STOLEN. “Next day we set out for Roxburgh, and got there about 5 p.m. It started to rain again, however, and after sheltering for about half an hour we carried on. Two miles farther on we ran into another shower, but there chanced to be a.n orchard handy, and we were permitted to sleep in a shed on s.ome sacks. While we were asleep some prowling dogs relieved us of our provisions, but we still had enough to see us to our next town, so we did not fare so badly. We then travelled on to Mills’ Flatt, Bea.umont, and Lawrence, covering the distance in one day. NIGHT PROWLERS. “After travelling another day we ran into several showers, and could find no dry place in which to spend the night. After looking round in the

dusk we came across a roadman’s hut which was unoccupied, and decided to spend the night therei- It had a fireplace, and as there ,Was plenty of fuel we soon had a cheerful blaze going. In the early hours of the morning we were-disturbed from our slumbers, by a, number of convivial spirits outside, who banged on the door and tried to gain admittance. They evidently thought the rightful occupier of the building was within, and were anxious for him to join them in their Yuletide festivities. However, they had disappeared by the morning. “On New Year’s Day we set out for Milton through the Bruce Gorge, but by ithis time we were both dea,d beat, having had little sleep and plenty of exercise. About one and a half miles, from Milton, from whence we intended to entrain for Dunedin, we heard the magic words beside us, “Would you like a lift?’ I.t was a service car, and the driver took us right th rough to the southern city)

“The whole tour, including the purchase of new shoes, a Light tent, expenses, and provisions, cost less than £lO, so we can claim to ha.ve had a cheap and novel Christmas. The actual walking distance was 170 miles, out of q total of 246 which we travelled.”