THE TARARUAS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 January 1941, Page 7

THE TARARUAS

SOME TRAMPING CLUB HISTORY ißv N J.B • ... .. reunion of members ot i the Tararuns Tramping Club, held 2u vears ago. in Wellington. Mr W • H ; Field. Ml’.. one of the chi*A tounuersi of the club, gave a short addiess on. the early history of the Tariiruas It was said that the Maoris regular y. crossed the Tararuas. from ihe .land-j watu side, and vice versa. Ihe nex ] oeoplc who explored the range x.e.v. ihe earlv surveyors who planted trig on Mount Hector taOlb ievi>{ and other high peaks along the range.] Then came the idea of constructing a j track from Greytown. on the east sick of the Tararuas. to O:aki on the wes. , In furtherance of that project. lw.-| men exploded the range in. 1896 Agmn. in 1898. a parly got as far as Mt] Alpha '4476ft >. and finally to Olaki. the journey taking 3 or 4 days. In January. 1910. a party of pressmen was conducted bv the then chairman of •he Greytown-Otaki Track Committee, on a trip from Olaki to M’ Hector .! From that date onward quite a num- i ber of eiforts were made t<> explore '.he ranges on the Wairarapa side. 1: ] was not until early in 1912 that Mr Field, with three or four others, crossed over successfully from Olaki to] Greytown. The tramp then began lot interest ihe general public, and. in 1913 even three ladies were taken, from Olaki to Mt Hector, and back I The late Mr Hugh Girdlestone, F.R.-1 G.S. 'a well-known surveyor and a. popular Mastertonian who later lost I his valuable life in action during the. Great War of 1914-18'. later surveyed the route from end to end and. by] making a reliable map of same, did | more than anyone to popularise the I tramp Mr Field also referred to the excellent work done by Mr F. W. Vos- ] seler and spoke of the then but recent I trip made by the Australian nurse-i author, Miss Louise Mac': Tins was | memorable trip, said Mr Field, fori although Miss Mack had to be rescued i af,,-r grim exposure to suddt n ehang-;

mg weather conditions en route, and pack-saddled to Greytown by Constable Macintosh and Mr Webster of that town, her companion in distress, the brave half-caste Olaki Gorge girl Miss Knox, walked the whole journey and was therefore the first lady to cross the range from Manawatu side to Wairarapa. despite sharing, with Miss Mack, all the many misadventures befalling each of them along the wav.

Mr Field’s prediction at that time that the beauties of the trip would attract hundreds of people m Wellington City and elsewhere further afield to its rich-forested and river domains, has long since come true.

Very shortly after Mr Field's speech, the track was so improved that two Wellington boys completed an original strong-man journey of four days within the space of two. Leaving Woodside railway junction at 630 a.m. on the first day. they arrived at the camp <no hut in those days) on Mt .Alpha (4476 ft in the afternoon. After a brief spell they pushed on and reached Mt Hector (5016 ft the next, highest peak to that overlooking Masterton. the Mitre (which towers skyward 5154 ft) by 5.50 p.m. From Ml Hector these lads obtained a splendid view of the country from Wellington right up to Cape Egmont, and practically the whole width, thus far, of the whole province; not to mention views of the South Island, across Cook Strait. By 8 pan, they reached Mt Dennan '4oloft) the other side of the range. They spent the night in the open. Continuing their journey at daybreak next morning, they reached Otaki Forks: and by following the road down Olaki Gorge arrived at Olaki. their destination for the time being, at 3 30 p.m.. thus completing, as Mr Field remarked, this sometimes hazardous journey within 2 days, a wry risky but most noteworthy feat, for boys or anyone m those days. Talking of risks, and by way of conclusion, this writer would suggest, m light of the recent misadventure befalling one of a parly of young girls scaling Ml Holdsworth '4835 fn, that perhaps m future trips bv amateur alpinists, the regular noting of numerical strength al each and every spell and moment of d< parttirv from thence <up or down the track’ should absolutely prevent misudventvre-s of a similar kind