PREPARING FOR SUMMER MOTORING

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 151, 16 September 1927, Page 9

PREPARING FOR SUMMER MOTORING

NORTHERN “CATTLE-TRACKS” IMPROVEMENT IN SOUTH I COULD not help noticing tire wonderful improvement in the roads in the South, and we could not help remarking: ‘Well, here are the cattle tracks again, when we got north of the Mokau Gorge, remarked Mr. R. Champtaloup, service officer of the Auckland Automobile Association to THE SUN this morning, on his return from an 1,800-mile tour round the North Island. The service officer has been preparing the detail for the coming season’s issue of the motor guide, and the trip included a considerable amount of the back country likely to be recommended to Auckland motorists this year. The route ‘covered was from Auckland to Napier, Paterangi, Wallingford, Porangahau, Weber, Eketahuna, Castlepoint, Paliser Bay, Mount Holdsworth, Akatarawa Gorge, near Upper Hutt, Manawatu. Mount Egmont, and through the Mokau back to Auckland. BACK TO POT-HOLES From Taupo to New Plymouth, and to the end of the public works in the Mokau Gorge, the road was almost perfect, and the back roads in the Hawke’s Bay and Wairarapa districts proved particularly wide and well-sur-faced. It was not until the car was out of the Mokau that pot-holes and big shingle were again experienced. “There has been sc me comment in Taranaki about the state of the FJgmont Road, but we found it quite as good as the main road near Te Kuiti. The accommodation house has been very much improved, and the surroundings are being made very attractive. The bush road is to be tarsealed this year. MOKAU BRIDGE “To the casual observer the Mokau River bridge is now complete. It has to have a few details finished, however, and should be opened about the middle of next month. “One of the features of the bridge is that the span in the middle, constructed to let ships through, remains in a horizontal position, and is lifted vertically. Fifteen-ton blocks at either end control its movement. “Mount Messenger Road, on the -south side, is being considerably improved and fences have been erected in places.”