DOWN THE KAPUNI

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 43, 13 May 1927, Page 9

DOWN THE KAPUNI

BOY’S REMARKABLE FEAT People with even a moderate acquaintance with Egmont will be amazed at the feat of Dennis Allen, who traversed the Kapuni Gorge in the darkness. Above Fantham’s Peak the line of the ravine first becomes plainly marked, and it was apparently up there that Allen missed the true track, which follows the ridge. All the way down the track the descending mountaineer keeps the infant Kapuni Stream on his left-hand. At the level of Fantham’s Peak the mountain side to the left of the track falls away in cliffs of appalling height. The configuration of the country is menacing and dangerous, and no experienced mountaineer would attempt the descent of the steep faces in daylight, let alone in the dark. Below Fantham’s Peak the stream, still enclosed in its rocky chasm, enters the zone of stunted bush, which increases the difficulties of the lost mountaineer. Numberless cataracts, culminating in the great circle of cliffs where the Kapuni takes a plunge to form Dawson Falls, add to the grandeur of the scenery, but make the way of the traveller incredibly difficult.

Allen’s accomplishment, in finding his way to the house, will astonish experienced mountaineers.