WAIMATE'S SHOW PLACE.

North Otago Times, Volume CVII, Issue 17169, 28 March 1927, Page 3

WAIMATE'S SHOW PLACE.

(Contributed.) For ari aetive person who loves a landscape and a e nnb, \ve recommend Ihe trip \ve took last week-end. We molored to Kelcy's Buslx and spenc i'oor deliglitiuL liours — two in ascending to the two thousand nine hundred i'oot altitude oi the divide; oue in revelhng jn the panorama stretched beiow us; and one in the return trip. Taking the hillside track just beyoml the gate near the rhelter pavilion at Kelcv's .Bush, we obeyed the handy intnnation posted at the stile, and turned to the ascent oi' tlie Ridge. 'lopping this we r'ound Vanother poster, "'J'he liidge 1,100 feet," and pausing, we were ctelighted with the beautiful surdit p.cture of the plam and Waimate town. AYould we 1 coukl transfer to canvas something of its beauty, but it is there for all to see who will give a half hour to the little climb of five hundred feet from the pavilion. Rested, we essaged the nexc section of tlie c.imb, and 111 due coui'se reached the Saddle, and again were greeted by an , informative placard, ''The Saddle, 2,500ft ' He we gained a more exlensive view. The "Waitaki river mouth in the soutli was visible, and northward the long curve of the coastline beyond Timaru. Waimate had become a town of doll's house proporlion, and farms were squares on a chess board with white dots here and - there that at lower level had been slieep and cattle. We marvelled at the siglit of Sander's Fall gully north of our route. The litt'e falls so beautiful in their ferny liome, have their source of supply . commencing 2,500ft above sea level,., and the nar- | row gully broadens out to a half mile width from tree to ;ree. The water supply of Waimate is permanent, and witii conservation wouJd serve two towns as large as Timaru It is the siglit of the sources, and' the realisation of the immense watershed seen i|^tA\ sasaa.tdiur, acqi siq§pi[ agq. uio.iif its value. The next stage of our climb was the final to the Divide, and this we commenced by crossihg a stile at a fence. 'Tis said that Borough Councillors carried that stile up tlie two-tliousand feet and erected it. Mere power to tliem! This last stretcli is an eli'ort. It is steeper, but there is better footing and niore * encouraging deceptions of false summits. Two hours from our leaving the pavilion, we sit on the top of the Divide two thousand nine hundrecf feet in the aitr, as is attested by the painted sign : "The Divide, 2,900ft." Who could describe the magnificent vista • opening up from this vantage poiint? Southward we look down Otago, miles upon miles of downlands and hilltops. The black swamp of the | Upper Waihao is below us, and1 Waihao ; Downs far to our left, as. we look | southward Waihaorunga and beyond | to the upper Waitaki, and snow capi ped Mt t Nimrod are in siglit as we • turn northward, and trace out the : coast line to the Fort Lyttelton liills. ! We spend an hour glorving in tlie | splendour of the immense panorama, i and reluctantly we leave it for the j | descent. : i An hour later and we are welcomed | with liot picnic tea at the pavilion, i : and we are prepared co "call it a day." | 1 Eveiy active Timaru car-owner j : should make this trip, for until he i has stood1 on the Divide he has not 1 i feen the greatest siglit South CanterI bury has to offer liiir, withm easy : | reach. j