A TRIP TO CASTLEPOINT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5005, 20 April 1895, Page 2

A TRIP TO CASTLEPOINT.

♦ HOW WE SPENT OtJfl EASTER * HOLIDAYS, [BY ONE OF THE TABTV.] H " Hurrah!" I cscl'iimed as I hurriedly dressed myself on Good Friday morning (0.30 a.m.), " Wliat a lovely ' morning. What a time of it ire mil "■ have at the Castle." I have just timo to take breakfast and put my traps to. gether and get them down to the coach, due at the Post Office at 8 a.m. With gun case in one hand and carpet bag in . the other, I manugo to get to llio comer 1 in time, finding, Brown, Inverness, and Deppy on the box seat-a bit of a ■». squeeze, I fancy, as they all go thirteen stone if they weigh a pound. Bycrs, who is a bit short in the legs, is on the hind scat as lie objects to climbing over the front wheel, this makes our party complete. The insido of the coach is filled with Maori ladies and their children, not a pleasant look-out for a forty, mile ride. ' " All aboard," Sam, the driver sings out and oil' we go for Cashpoint, whero the quintet intend spending their ( Easter holidays, our spirits high, and ■ great expectations as to huge liaijiuof llsh. After passing the Taucrfßnd Blnirlogio Hotels, and sueccssflwiy negotiating the Mtingapakeha we arrive at Tenui, where we have dinner and then S wc start for Whakataki at which place we leave the Maoris, and have the coach pretty well to ourselves. Wlicnwc get oiilothebeachweliud the tide pretty high which necessitates the coach going ■ through the loose sand; very hard work f for the horses, and in answer to a gentle [ hint from the driver, about "stretching , our legs," wo get out and walk. After \ doing about half a mile Sam takes com- | passion on us and lets us into the coach ' again, and at 0,15 lands us safely at ■ Host Pull's accommodation liouse,whcre ■ an inviting looking spread awaits us, 3 which after a good wash, we attack with ravenous appetites. Having satisfied the inner man, wo light our pipes and have a stroll on the , sands. Someone suggests that wc should get our tackle ready for the morning, so Host l'ull is summoned to give directions. When the lhA-ire fixed, we indulge in a game ofc^it.', and then to bed, as we mean to make an i early start at the lish, as Host Pull says 1 we arc bound to catch something in the . morning "allright" At (i a.m., lam w . awoke with " Cnples, old fellow, what , do you say to a swim." Out I jump, and soon got into my clothes and down--1 stairs, where I meet Host Pull, " Oh, " where is the besl place lo bathe, Pull," t is my lirst question. "In the basin," 1 is the reply. "Any sharks about," is j my next. "Oh, you can bathe in ; the basin ' all right.' " is Pull's rec oindcr. All doubts, on that score, . jciiif! set at rest, Deppy, Brown '' mid I sally forth. While making our way to the basin we overtake one of the ■' station hands, who is looking for some s horses, wc get into conversation with him and incidentally mention wc are n going to have a swim in the basin. Tho !- man advises us to be careful, as some s pretty large sharks gc! in there at times. I He tells us his male "Bill" caughtono oft long last Sunday week in the basin, , This made us hesitate a bit, but Brown 1 said, " Conic on it's all right, because--0 Pull said so," so on wc jog. But just as e we arrived at the basin, a shower of rain e came on, which drove us back to the f house. 4^ After breakfast in spite of WPltin, ,_ the quintet, armed wilh a multitude of lines and a big bag of mussels for bait, went out to the " Beef" where Pull said '' we would catch some lish. Inverness ( was the first lo throw his line into the • sea, and before two minutes had elapsed e we saw him give a vigorous chuck to his e line and then commence to haul it in, t but it came yery slowly. "By Jove," j. said Brown "He has got a big oue." Inverness wilh his foot planted firmly in front of him, was pulling all he knew how, but he could not get a move out of his linny adversary, when suddenly tho line came up with a jerk. On making examination we find out that the lino - had broken, leaving the hooks and about one lb of lead (used as a sinker) '" 0 in the bottom of the briny. Inverness 1 looked a bit sad, but started to repair e damages at once, and on Ids next essay - hauled out a splendid sclmappcr. Deppy ■1 then sung out," I've got him all right," , it and in a short time landed a regular beauty, 'Jibs if an ounce. The fun then became fast and furious, the fish being i evidently in the hungry liumoiiUJßrown , and Bycrs, who were situateffl'ittlc further along the reef, hauUng out about a dozen fish between them. At about ten it began to rain very hard, and as the sea was getting very rough, wo G decided to knock off. On counting tho s spoil wc found we had 20 hcad,amongst 11 which was a hideous looking marine , d monster (my only catch), which Invcr-ness-who is a bit of mi icthyologistr said was a blind eel. On gett'ng off the Beef, wc found that , a steamer (The Fanny) from ifapior, was in the buy landing posts, As tho '* rain appeared to be clearing away, n Deppy suggested that wc should go oa . board. Byers and Inverness shook ' [1 tneir heads, and Brown murmured something about md de met: So Deppy . and I got into the boat, and went oft' to „ the steamer. The Captain kindly gave y us permission to drop our lines over the " vessel's side, and in a short time our r efforts were rewarded by cachpuUing a un a nice kaliawai, weighing about „ a -libs apiece. The sea, by this time, was " getting rough, and make the steamor t roll about a good deal, wlucrffltlcred the loading of the boat wrmposts rather a hazardous transaction. Tho . Captain told us to get our lines up as . lie was going to shift (he steamer after the next boatload of posts. I got my line up quickly and sang out to Deppy, ~ who was on the other side of the steamer, to roll his up, but be took no notice of the hint. On going over to him, ho G asked me to do it for him, as lie was 11 "otherwise engaged." We managed to e scramblo on to the top of the load of v posts in the boat, and were pulled !. ashore, one of the sailors kindly carryus on to terra firma again, _ Bcturning to the house wc find wcaro * just in lime for dinner, to which wc all paid good attention—barring Deppy, who scorned a bit fastidious. Before, dinner was over the rain came down in torrnts, so wo indulged in euchre till about four, when a consultation was held and as the raiu showed no signs of abatement, it was decided to cleat out' for homo as soon as possible, so a tolo. * gram was sent to Mnstcrton fora convey 1 ance to carry us back. By this time tea 0 was announced, and wc found a delicious , repast of fish, cooked in Host PuU's ) well-known style, awaiting us, to which wc did justice. After that busjAs was , over, wc repaired to tho a smoke, where we all indulged in a hearty ' growl at the wretched weather, wonder-' ing, at the fame time, when tho coach would arrive to takcusaway. Euchrl&as, our only source of amusement during ■ the'evening, then r disgusted with tho execrable weather, which continued through tho night and all Sunday morning. At dinner time wo received word from Whakataki that . a brake wason itswajrfromTinuito ; : fetch us. This news raised our spirits 1 and made us attack the fish dinner Host l'ull had provided for its,'with great guslo. ■ After dinner Byers and I sallied forth to get some '• pipis," for which luscious bivalve Casllepoint is justly famed. We found them very plentiful on the beach, and soon collected a sugar-hag v full, witl\ which we intended to give out friends in Mastertoa' a' treat. «Papfc : up," was then the word, and we had got allour kits ready just as tho'hake arrived. .Wc were soon oh hoard and, giving Host M '» cheer, we left for Whakataki, and in about forty minutes we pulled up at • ™ Whakataki Hotel, kept by Mr *' McCandb.sk.- Here wo heard that tho creek was high, and as it wouldjpon be dark we thought itadvisible to sjfe the night and make an early start"-the morning, After getting somo dry clothes we came down stairs and were very pleased ,i to be ushered into a cosy little room, * ' with a fire burning brightly aiuj a daintily spread, appetising repast awaiting our onslaught. WesoonM to with a

will. "By Jove this is nice," said Brown, who is a bit of an epicure. "Bather," I replied, winking at tho charming little Hebe who was attending to our wants, "Much better Mb/than floundering in tho Whakataki Iff Creek iu the dark!" After tea our host camo in and told us that unless tho rain stopped ho was afraid wo would not get across the creek in tho morning. Wo had a pleasant chat with him for an hour or so, discussing tho probabilities of the case, and then to bed. Monday morning—raining cats and dogs—" No chance of getting away today," so our driver iuformed us, We managed to put tho day in somehow and went to bed early, "hoping for better news on the morrow. Tuesday morning —our driver reported the creek " rather too high to cross with safety," so as the mail coach was due in the afternoon from Mastcrion, we decided to postpone our departure. The rain knocked off at 11 o'clock. Wo all went out to havo a look at the Whakataki Creek. Deppy and Inverness went out with their guns and managed to secure a few rabbits beforo dinner Ao signs ot the mail coach—We havo another consultation with our driyor, who said "If the rain kept off, ho bo ready to start any time iu tho M/morning." We all went down to the ™ each in the afternoon, shooting rabbits, V and had very good sport On returning, Mr McCandlish (who is a noted breeder of collio dogs) shewed us over his kennels. Amongst others, "Ayrshire Laddie," a great prize-taker, was much admired, He is a very handsome dog, and looked in splendid condition. Ten o'clock saw us all in bed in anticipation of aii early start in tho morning. ]ij seven next morning, after enjoying a hearty breakfast, and having thanked Mr McCandlish for the kindness and attention he had shewn us, we were "All aboard " and on our way to Tinui, some ten miles distant, the first five ni'lcs of road being alongside tho Whakataki creek, which wo cross 27 times! Then wo strike up the Whakataki Hill (a vory up-hill game!) at which the horses get the best of us, as wo have to walk it Numerous slips aro encountered on tho road, which is in a terrible state from the hcary rain. Tho yjTinui liivcr is reached about ten; the pridgo oTer the river is in a damaged condition, two spans of tho structure having been washed away eighteen months ago, and as yet remain unropaired, through the financial distress of the local authorities. Tho ford, we leatn, is impracticable, on account of the heavy silt thrown up by tho last flood. "What a nice mess we are in now," exclaimed Dcppy. "How on earth can wo get out of it? I must get into Masterton to-night; let us have i look at the bridge." On getting to the end of the broken bridge, about 30 feet of a muddy torrent, fifteen feet below, meets our view. On closer examination we find that a tree has been washed down the river, one end resting on the bank and the other against the bridge. " Our only chance!" says Dcppy, and after a careful survey of the position, he essays the descent, gets on to the log and scrambles over to the opposite bauk of the river. " Lets get our things out of the brako" said Inverness, " and carry them down to the end of the bridge, Caples! you aro the longest, you had better get on the middle of the log. Brown will hand the things to you as we lower them down, and you can pass them on to Deppy." This plan worker! very well till the W a S °f mussels was lowered.the weight was too much for Brown, who let them drop, nearly following them himself, into tho Tinui riyer. Inverness then lowered Byers (who is not built for climbing), and following himself, the quintet stood complete on the coveted bank. By this time our driver, with the assistance of the roadman, had discovered a solid track over the silt bed and managed to get the conveyance over. We soon had our (raps in again and away for Tinui, which was reached at half-past eleven. Here we were delayed ior an hour, fresh horses having to be got iu from the paddock and fed. On resuming our journey we found the Mungapakeharoad very bad, slips havingoccurrcd in numerous places, and some of the telegraph poles having been blown down by the wind. At threo o'clock wo reached Blairlogie Hotel, where we had dinner, rested the horses for an hour, then on again, arriving at Masterton at hal f-past eight, pretty well tired out, having been nearly fourteen hours on the journey—a journey which shall all remember, and how we ■spent our Easter holidays h the year of 'grace 1895!