Highway and Byway

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 76, 21 June 1927, Page 8

Highway and Byway

Roads That Lead to Auckland ALL roads lead to Auckland. Far away, beside the dancing waters of Port Nicholson, is a strip of irreproachable bitumen, with a corner and a Aad-sign: To Auckland, 461 miles. The leagues between are of diverse character, but alwavs they are threaded by a criss-cross of roads, with somewhere a corner and a signpost, pointing along a trail that guides toward the north.

BARRIERS of bad lands, forested ranges and' volcanic desert in other days separated Auckland from the South. Even now there is only one all-weather route, the Awakino Valley Road, but other communications are improving. Strangely, the logical route, directly south through the heart of the island, is the least developed, and motorists have learned to shirk the Te KuitiTaumarunui road. For preference they

go to Rotorua and on to Taupo, whence one road plunges eastward into forbidding mountains, while another moves by lake shore and unbridged

rivers toward Taihape and the northern extremity of the metal. Distant places are Taihape and Raetihi, but recent developments thereabouts are of interest to Auckland. Raetihi is linked to Wanganui by the Parapara Road, already a popular route to Auckland, and between Taihape and Napier is a mountain highway that traverses uplifted plateaux, and sometimes clings precariously to the flanks of the ranges. Enterprising service companies have now established thereon a car service which shortens the journey between Auckland and Hawke’s Bay. From the East Coast and the West Coast all roads, sooner or later, join another that heads into the north. Then it dawns upon the arriving motorist that in the matter of roads the populous north has been sadly To-day the concrete near Auckland only serves to accentuate the uneven conditions of the main road at Huntly. From Hamilton, through Cambridge, to Tirau, is a magnificent stretch of metal road, but beyond are the Mamaku and its fourteen miles, still demanding chains and careful driving. BOMBAY DEVIATION Eastward the road to the Hauraki Plain is improved, but still no model highway, and the unmetalled piece near Waitakaruru is a nightmare in bad weather. Important works in progress are effecting improvement of the Razorback section on the Main South Road. Originally a military road, the existing highway climbs direct to the ridges, and there are hair-raising grades. Now a much easier road is under construction, so the future holds less of gearchanging.