A TRIP TO WAIMIHA.
(By a b'neciiil Corresnvnuicnt). i ~ Some iKrauiful easy country li«?s i between YVaimihr. nr.d Tangitu proper, j" We must turn uft' hers, " s\u-:l my ! friend, ''fur -while au-i take to I tie : oki pack track for about hail a miio.'' We beat through the bush when halt was the am! we ui^aionntcd. H is a ;;;lieh surer way of getting clown this stoop boggy grade. Get--1 tini; over this without any mishap we once more found our selves on terra linna. Asked why we dismounted, my friend replied that owing to such
a boggy state of the road it was im- | possible to get over it with anything I like safety. I queried whether it was ; the intention of the department to ; leave it so, and my friend replied emphatically in the negative. "In- ! structiciH have been issued to our j popular road overseer, Mr J. Sai'th to : proceed with the work at once," he ! replied. Naturally. I asked why the I formation wasn't continued. "That ' is a question 1 cannot answer, but requires to be dealt with by the settlers," was the response. The distance from Waimiha to Tangitu is something like seven and a half a.iles, ; and the time occupied by us, including calls for cups of tea, etc., was about
; four hours, but at ordinary riding pace this distance can be covered in about one and a half hours. During the winter months the single journey takes from eight to ten hours, and you are very lucky if you don't get lost in the mud for a week on the return journey. Arriving at Tangitu we halted at Mr. J Smith's handsome dwelling built of calico (calico houses are by no means a uncommon sight here). "Hello," came the cry from within the camp; "is that you? You are just in time for tea. We concluded this was the best news we had heard since leaving Waimiha. Having put our horses in the stables (a bush paddock) we beat a hasty retreat. The first item to indulge in was a wash in the bowl, which refreshed us considerably after our hard day in the broiling sun. After finishing our toilet we sat down to ' a capital tea consisting of three courses to which we did ample just- ; ice. The cooking department was in ; the sole charge of Mr C. Lovett, junr., ! who personally supervised all things. Our next hurdle, to use a colonial phrase, was accommodation for the night. After many resolutions and amendments we decided to camp, but i not being provided with the best i kapoc mattrasses we decided to lie as : low as possible. As I remarked to : my friend our position that night was I lower than it had bEen for years. Hut ; lhe most trying ordt:al had to coma. | As the evening wore c;i we retired , for the night. At '.his season of the : year the mosejuitoes are at ti»eir worst, and after making several vain attempts to keep our candle alight we determined to turn in toe dark : ar.d for several hours lay j listening to the sweet strains of mosquito music. After several | tunes full of discord thi: noted band ' continued ita strains untli the em a' j wee hours of ihe mornin.' After all, 1 it wasn't uo bad, for we concluded, as the proverb say->, "music hath charms," etc. Arising next morning from a heavy night's slumber and regretting very much to leave our comfortable beds, we baited our horses whilst our genial cool; prepared the breakfast of ham and eggs (not bad for a bush camp). I must not forget to thank Mr Smith and his staff for the untiring attention to us. Everything that was possible to be done by way of making us comfortable was dene. His hospitality we : shall never forget, and once more iwe take the liberty to thank our genial Jack for his kind-hearted-j ne?s and benevolence. Mounting our i horses we proceeded along tne Mapu I road. Here we entered on a six-foot I track again. Like the main road it i has many windings. Looking to the i left some fine country came under our ! view for purposes. The road traverses along a big valley embracing some excellent country. As we went along, not quicker than a walking pace, we noticed blocks of bush-felling. • On making enquiries what this meant, 1 was told it was the commencement of the new and great settlement. The i sections varying size, running from i 100 to 189 acres each, which is con- ! sidered too small for dairying pur- ! noses. The smallness of the sections j is calculated to hamper and retard the ' industry on a large scale. Still trav- ; elling along we had the pleasure of ! meeting the first while woman to ! arrive in the block. Having health and youth on her side one could'nthelp but say how well she looked, after suffering the hardships typical to hnck-block settlors. Generally speaking the L-sUiers are a happy, healthy lot, who seem to endure their hardships with comparative eass. One liable feature we noticed was the number of young children of tender age running about without any chance of £c!iooL-. V In ai! we counted somethin-' like thirty children, mostly all of school age, and in my opinion thev should be gelling some education 'carry them along through life.
•• (s (litre HO chance to yet them to -•clu»u!T' I J'.-!;"'.!. "Nut until we get jirt'isci ty iK'tiii'il, am.) perhaps it will take two years before we can get tilings in tiie way for a Sehcol, ' *is the reply. 'illis means that some o. the ci.iiihvn will be past fchool ago by that time. It seems must peculiar that in c.o?nc places we got too much, and away in iiiasj isokjtea places there \ve>.' never more ui'ijs?!U r;ee r j jor education than at present. Tnu improvements eflected this first year have, I am told. considerably ccxceded expectations of the Land Hoard. U is i-L-titie.itcd that about 10(H) acrewere jelled dui'iiK; iifrft year. This item alone speaks volumes fo;/ t1 1 ,," tluiftinesrs of the settlers. Men and won.en can I. 1 ..* ta-eii, happy and eontenteii at thin time of year, hut most of Lliem express a dread of the approaching winter. We have no proper road yet. For sosr.e unknown reason the Government has discharged the men. This mean j complete isolation
next winter. Si much for a tfragg-ng read - construction policy. Having satisfied ourselves as to the country in the Mapu ciwiun of ihv Llcok we returned to Tangitu. The Ma..u Valley has a grit at future before it, containing, as it does, excellent grazing country, which piee.ices abundant grass. This Mom road wili in the [•.ear future connect with Te KuiiiAria main service road. The block is already provided with a town:,hip site. Incidentally, the Government are looking ahead. Including the township site there are school sites, a creamery site, and last., but not least, a cemetery site is provided. (To be concluded in next bsje).
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King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 327, 11 January 1911, Page 2
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1,176A TRIP TO WAIMIHA. King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 327, 11 January 1911, Page 2
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