A Holiday on Stewart Island.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Issue 42, 11 March 1899, Page 1

A Holiday on Stewart Island.

(Continued.) When we awoke on Monday morning it was blowing hard, and so we reckoned on spending another da,) at the Neck, lint about nine o'clock Hat tray came lound and told us the cutter was going ivt'io&s to Golden Ba\, . and we lost no time getting lead.v. It was bv no means a pleasant tup aoioss the Inlet, as tho spray was filing o\er our little er.ilt, and we had occasional heavy vain squalls, so that b\ the time we got to our journey's end we we;e wet both with fc.ilt antj flesh water. "\\ hen we landed we were met by several ot pur party, "who had got tued ot waiting indoojs. and had walked round on the oil cnance ot seeing something ot Oui Oui's cuite). Vvow the reception we got o.ir would have thought that they had nut veil us tpi t\\J-se months, We spent an noui e\penencos, and then h^dlmuh, after which one half of the p.uly went sketching, and four of the {ii'iitleini'U borrowed fishing lines and a boat, and went fishing m tioldon Bay. The,> liad tauly good jack They caught about a do/t-n' blue cod and butter fish, and also a number ot jed cod, which they tlnew oveiboaul, as people m Stewart Jsl.iud don't eat them. ~\Ve took the iest lionie, juid thought we had done very well, find it rathsi hint our feelings when the 1 i uplc .it the hotel laughed at our "take." : '!te\ u'ckoned the\ were not worth cooking, 'thi") were to"o siuall." Theytastec] mi) n)(.y at brcikiast nej,t niorinng at dii\ late. 1 may as w ell add here that nil the Ji -diet men got wet, but as that was <«n ahno-st eveiy fyiy occuirence, it occavomd no lenmk. The eyenmg was p.^-((t veiy pleasantly with carc|s and i'"i ■, and about midnight all retired to Vi <vi early hourne^t moming all \yere •' ni liiLwiitoi putting up a it?cord by being l '"i l badly arianged sh!il^edowu on a ""■a which was g^tieuieh uncon^tortable. ■'uoii', t il to\ this. A biiuill paity want l('i a ), w betoie b,reaktast, and as they yon lUiumug they met $attray, who I'iiu, h, ,i them tljat Oiu Qui waiting in U., nit n Uay with the cutter to tak,e ilu'in ,ip the Jnjet. No pine was lost y>-'ttii,!> i)if,il»tast, and airangements were, soon niado ioi the da>'s outing. The ladies obtained lrom tlie* landlord sufficient pioviMons etc. lor a party Qt fifteen, .Hid dbpul. nine o'clock everyt\ung was on buud the Kiwi, and we were sailing along the inlet with a. nice gentje brecze'behinc| 1 '- made Igi 1 the Mortheni aim of the niiei;, apd attei a sail Qt two houis we leachod our destination. The sporting members ot tlie party had jilltd in' the tune potting at penguins which are fapvly .plentiiul, but as aniv their"|ieads are yisible a.)ove water, they are very hard to hit. Ai lbusj; that was th^ 99^pi lpBiopl p8iop we came to,

"We landed our party at the month of a largo creek. It took two trips of the little dinghy, and the first paitv that landed at once set about pvep.mng dinner. There was plenty ot firewood about, as the month ot the creek ■was the site of an old saw -mill, and theio was an enormous amount of timber I\ ing in all directions. The only objectionable feature about the place was that wheroxoi you went yon got covered in " biddy bids" and this particular variety had exceptionally tenacious qualities After lunch, which was done full justice to by everybody, wo all laid ourselves out for enjoying ourselves for the next few hours. The " artists " got then. 1 paint box.es, easels, and camp stools under their arms and looked lound for rhe best " subject " to "try their skill upon, the trouble being not to find a pretty scene, but to select the pvottiest. Two were satisfied to stay close by, but the rest decided to fciy the other bide of the bay, a i id accoidmgly a party was formed to row tl if 11 across, a distance of aboutthreetju.ii' l of i '.«iii Wiiiju they gi/t, bhcio ti)e j litiu'i^ wtio put ashore, and the others put back to the first landing place, aud took off tlu j vest who were not pa^^lting. They spent the next few hours explonng the boy, and about five o'clock prepared to get ready for tho return journey. They rowed over to the sketching party, and &oon got them on board the cutter, but when they went for the pair who had stopped at the iirst landing place, they found that the tide had gone out, and that tho boat could not get within 200 \ards of the shore. At that particular spot the beach was very soft, so that a landing had to be effected a quaiter of a mile further down. Then a further difficulty aiose. T-o get to the boat the preek had to be crossed, find the pnly way to do this was to walk along a |;ree trunk which was lying acioss the stream. Owing to the tide bein» out, this improvised bridge was about 20 teet above the water, and it took -i eoiiMderable amount ot mancemring ro cuimy two ladies and the innumerable b'lhes and baskets of thp picnic pirt\ acioss. However, rt was ln.amigcd, and the eiHteij was reached at last, those on board having completely exhausted their slock pf patience wajtmg. Meanwhile a good| breeze had sprung up, and soon we were sailing along splendidly, when a third stoppage occurred. A camera had been lefi behind 1 Everyone was ominously silent when this was discovered, but Oui Oui at once (jecided to put back, jand Rattray rowed ashpre and got it. After this, there was no more delay" and the pail home was most enjoyable. There was a stifi w ind blowing, and as ' by this tune we had got accustomed tp tlie boat heeling o\er, we took ]io notice of the water rippling over Hie side, but sa,ng songs and cracked, jokes all the way. We had a splendul view ot the Injet from a great number of pqints. It was puuset when we got back, and even the inart}st}c among us could not fail' to

remark on the pretty views to be seen in every direction. "We ai rived about half-past eight and as we were so kite for tea record time was put up between Golden Bay and Oban. " Yon don't deceive jmy tea,'' was what we were greeted with, but we got it nevertheless, and enjoyed it exceedingly. The nejvt mo\ c was to a room adjoining the fichoolhouse. where a dance was held. There was a scarcity of dancing men. but some of the ladies got o\ei the difficulty by acting in that capacity, and a couple of hours passed very pleasantly. Some of the young ladies wore neaily falling out as to who should Have the most dances with . Rattray, but Jhat difficulty was smoothed over. (To be continued.)