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Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 20, 11 August 1894, Page 11

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THROUGH THE OTAGO GOLDFIELDS ON A BICYCLE.

[By Roadster.]

The time for departure having arrived, I sallied forth from Alexandra •over the bridge on my homeward journey. I was soon in trouble. Recent heavy showers had broken up the. roads, and the country was of such an uneven nature that frequent dismounting became necessary. I reached as far as Butcher’s Gully, when I had to CAVE IN, cheerfully accept the invitation of a friendly tea traveller, who had been convoying me, to stow away the machine in his van and cast in my lot with him. In this way we reached Bald Hill Flat, having on our right the Old Man Range, covered with snow, and having on its summit the remarkable obelisk from which its name is derived. At Bald Hill Flat I foregathered with Mr Harvey, formerly schoolmaster at North Wairio, -and spent a pleasant evening with him. I found the township to have its interests about equally divided between mining* and agriculture. Next morning’ we made a start for ROXBURGH, and as the condition of the roads did not improve, the country became more mountainous, and rain began to fall, the title of this article became a misnomer, and I continued under the snug" shelter of my friend’s van. Although the twenty miles to Roxburgh, as far as the froads were concerned, were tedious in the extreme, and it took us seven hours to accomplish the distance, yet the journey itself was by no means an unenjoyable one. We had the stimulus of the fine mountain scenery, and there were elements df amusement within our little community which amply beguiled the time. First there was the horse, Barty by name, which cognomen had been shortened from “ Barter,” a reminiscence of a horse deal. Though far from being free from suspicion as regarded the soundness of his legs, he must have had the heart of au elephant from the way he tackled those hills. Then there was my friend’s pet spaniel Toodles, who had very inconsiderately seen fit to increase the •canine population to the extent of four at Alexandra, so that instead of forming- Jerome’s humorous collection of “ Three Men in a Boat,” we were a fairly facetious company of two men and five dogs in a van. Then my friend was a model of versatility. He had spent the greater part of his life in India, was an authority on that country, its people, their manners and customs, and his information ranged from gold-mining to theosophy, from bee culture to church decoration. He had a good voice and repetoire of songs, and with my own very modest accomplishments we managed to put in the time very congenially. VVe •dined at SHINGLE CREEK, where there was a collection of waggoners resting their horses. The carriage fojp the whole of the country up to Lake Wanaka is done by heavy waggons with teams of six .and, eight horses, and even these in the winter sometimes get stuck for days in the deep ruts and heavy mud. The sight of one of these waggons in parlours state induced my friend to resurrect the story which may be old ’to some readers of this journal, but which had a world of pungent application at this stage. It was that of the old lady' who, going on i tojan up-country station, was horrified at the language of the bullock-driver, and extracted a promise from him that he would not swear in her pre■sence. Stuck up in a mud-hole one May when she was a passenger, he exhausted every expedient to extricate the stolid bullocks, and at last made bis appearance at the rear of the wag" gon, hat in hand, and with earnest pleading on his countenance, saying—- “ Please, mum, may I d n ’em out •of this hole ?”

Dinner over, we continued bur mountain way, conversing on nearly every subject in the calendar, and alternating our discourse with an appropriate ditty or an interjeetory reminder to Bartyq when, under the divine influence of song, he was so uncomplimentary to the peformer as to display a , disposition to go to sleep. At last when in the midst of anerridite discussion on Darwin and the revolution theory, we turned the apex of the road and gained a splendid view of

COAL CREEK and surroundings. The weight taken off, Barty showed his satisfaction by covering the down hill road to Coal Creek. Traces of coal were frequently seen, and the mineral obtained in the creek is of very good quality. From Coal Creek to Roxburgh is a fine fruit-growing district, the gardens being well laid out, and I was informed that the sight in spring while the blossom was out was a sight worth going a long way to see. It was now getting dark, and we lost no time putting up at “mine inn.” The town of Roxburgh is straggling, but is-.the best built of the goldfields townships, the buildings being nearly all of stone. The opposite bank of the river is sluiced away by mining operations, and the hydraulic system is now being called into requisition to get to lower levels. Work is carried on by” electric light at night, which has a pretty effect to the onlooker. Being bent now on reaching home as soom as possible, we make an early start next morning, getting a level road to Miller’s Flat, past several dredges, and through good agricultural land; the celebrated.Moa Flat Station lying to the right. Just beyond Miller’s Fiat in an evil moment I disentombed the bike from the van, the road showing indications of improvement. These were short - lived, and what between MUD AND BROKEN METAL I had to shove the machine at least half-way from the Island Block, and through the low hills, to Rae's Junction. I found that by turning aside from this point to Heriot —14 miles— I could get a train for home next morning, and thereby save two day's. I determined to try it, and started at 8.15 p.m. for Heriot. I was told I had a good road before me, but found this about on a par with the usual information vouchsafed to bicy'dists. After three miles mudlarking 1 climbed a small mountain, encountered more mud, followed by” a mile of fair riding, then darkness came down, and I had nine miles to go over soddened clay roads, in an unknown country, and with a. drizzling - rain just starting’. Let me draw a curtain over my experience for the next three hours, and how on foot I pushed the machine until I found myself on the banks of the river at Heriot, unable to find the bridge and like to stay” there all night. Seeing a light in front I coo-eed for some time, until a Good Samaritan came down and extricated me from my” awkward position. I reached the hotel after some further trouble at 9.5 p.m.,

DEAT DEATEX, and mud from head to foot. However, “ all’s well that ends well,” and after I had enjoyed a good supper and got into a comfortable bed, 1 consoled myself with the reflection that my experience might have been worse —but not much. Hext morning I boarded a train, and, joining the express at Waipahi, was welcomed by my friends in Invercargill at four p.m, I had intended to offer some observations to bicyclists in general on the subject of the goldfields tour, but space will not permit, and I can only add that beyond Roxburgh the country is not suitable for bicycling, and I would not recommend tourists to undergo the fatigue of the trip. The road* -crush to dust in the summer, and are nearly as hard to travel as in the winter. To the Invercargill commercial men I would say —“ Encourage by all means in your power THE EXTENSION OF THE RAILWAY now proposed from Heriot to Rox-

burgh.” An excellent and capable country will then be brought into direct communication with Invercargill, and I have no doubt that it will be found preferable and more 6 3cmomical to have commercial relations with that town than with Dunedin. So mote it be.