No. I.—THE BRIDLE-PATH TO THE PERRY

Lyttelton Times, Volume 1, Issue 2, 18 January 1851, Page 6

No. I.—THE BRIDLE-PATH TO THE PERRY

ACROSS THE HEATHCOTE

This means of communication between the port and the plain issues from the town of Lyttelton just to the west of the Custom-House Reserve, Norwich Quay, having been made per-

fectly passable for carts or drays up to its com-

mencemeut. The road winds round* the lower part of the spur which divides the two small bays on whose shores the town is mapped out, and then ascends along its eastern face to the more level part of the spur, at about half the final elevation which has to be attained. Here the bridle-path will eventually take the western side of the spur, winding round the steep crags and basaltic dykes, up to the lowest point of the ridge which encircles Erskine Bay. Just now,. however, some of these stubborn dykes, although attacked, have not yet been fully pierced by the blasting-powder; so that only pedestrians can follow the road along its whole distance, while the horseman must dismount at the point where the road crosses the spur, and follow the track up its sharpest ridge to the summit. There he may once more mount, and follow the track till he again joins the road at its highest point. The traveller on foot will pause a few yards below the summit, to admire the bird's-eye view of the little town spread out beneath him, the small craft gathered in the bay, the larger vessels anchored outside its eastern point, and the picturesque crags and wooded gullies, among which Messrs. Rhodes's homestead and farm-buildings are perched,—Mount Herbert and Castle Hill, still frowning down upon him from the height of 3000 feet, —and the wide bays at the head of the harbour. From one point of the path a glimpse is caught of Ellesmere, and of the narrow shingle bank which divides it from the sea. The ascent is steep; for a height of 1,100 feet is attained within 88 chains, or 1 mile and 176 yards; but, nevertheless, horses, bullocks, and mules will be able to carry a heavy pack to the top. On reaching the summit, if the day be clear, the first view of the Great Southern Plain of New Zealand is very striking. To the right, one -, of the spurs of Mount Cavendish extends to the bank of the river Heathcote, at the point where first a ferry and then a bridge is to be, and hides the junction of that river with the Shak--?psttre-ngar~their cciiimGii mouth at Stunner. To the northward the coast extends in the form of a crescent; the first half of which consists of sand-hills fringed with surf, and the other of bolder shores, backed by the limestone ranges, often glittering white in the sunshine, which form the country near Double Corner and Motunau. Furthest to the north, the snowy peaks of the Kaikoraand Lookers-on mountains rising to a height ol from 8000 to 10,000 feet, tower above the blue sea; and although they are known to be 106 miles off in a straight line, such is the clearness of the New Zealand atmosphere, that their forms are often very distinctly seen. Followingthe mountain chain to the left, two remarkable peaks, far in the interior, called Te Koa, may also be seen: and, a little further to the left, a near and prominent mountain, called Mount Grey, which rises immediately from the northern extremity of the plain to a height of about 3,000 feet. A continuation of the mountains, of which four successive ranges may be distinguished on a clear day, brings the eye back to the range on which the spectator is, near a very remarkable basaltic pinnacle, which, although it deserves it, has not yet received a distinguishing name. It is but a small portion of the plain that can be seen from this point of view. The Heathcote river meanders nearest the foot of the hills; and some reaches of the Shakspeare may be made out a little further to the north. The first wood on the left is Papanui wood, which lies three miles to the N. of Christchurch. Beyond this, the river Courtenay, especially when swollen by tlie heavy rain and molten snow, which the warm N.W. wind brings down from the mountains, may be traced, as a bright barrier across the plain, down to its estuary and bar-harbour about 10 miles N. of Sumner. Be- . ,iyondthat river, in very clear weather, the Ohoka, Tuahiwi, and Rangiora woods, near the Maori settlement and reserve at Kaiapoe, may also be discovered. From this summit, there are two ways of proceeding. A foot-path, passable at a foot's pace for borses, continues along the top of the ridge

to the westward, towards the present bridge over the Heathcote, and Riccarton. That way we hope to describe on some future occasion: but now we shall follow the bridle-path, dipping1 at once into the valley which has afforded us the above view of the plain. The descent is at about the same inclination as the ascentj and continues to be steep for rather less than a mile and a quarter; Then the road continues for another mile along the foot of tl c spur of Mount Cavendish already mentioned, at the eastern edge of a broad tongue of land lying between the Heathcote and the hills, to the site of the future Ferry and Bridge. This is a rich tract of land : some of it dry, and clothed with luxuriant grass; other portions of it more or less swampy, with a vegetation of flax, tohe-toke, (a long riband-grass with graceful feathery seedtufts,) and raupo or bulrush. But even from the most swampy portion there appears to be a sufficient fall towards the river for drainage ; and, if so, that is the portion which will eventually prove the most productive land. The whole distance, from Lyttelton. to the Ferry, is thus a little more than four miles ; of which nearly two miles and a quarter are ascent and descent, at an inclination, on the average, of one foot in five. The road is to be eventually eight feet in width. It has been executed chiefly by Mr. Hughes, under contract with the Association ; and its total cost has been estimated, at about £300.

(To be continued.)