ROUND THE SOUTH EAST BEND

New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 763, 5 March 1954, Page 14

ROUND THE SOUTH EAST BEND

FARTHEST SOUTH, by A, H. Reed; A. H. and A. W. Reed, 12/6, [AVING already taken the reader north, west and east, A. H. Reed leads him in this little book for a walk along the curve of the South Island coast from Chaslands to Bluff, then inland by bus to Invercargill and Tuatapere, and on to the western fringe of settlement at Te Wae Wae Bay, where one looks on the tumble of mountains in Fiordland. The record of this walking tour illustrates afresh the isolation of some parts of this country not very far from -cities or towns. As indicated in the recently published history of Chaslands, this south-east bend of the _ "Mainland" is little known, so Mr. Reed

and his nephew were in a sense explorers. Here is Slope Point, the most southerly point in the island. Leading to Bluff harbour is a long stretch of desolate and inhospitable country. There the Reeds were entertained by a solitary old man who had lived all his life on that one spot, his only means of access to the world a distant road over a swamp. He told his guests that it was about six years since travellers had called. Yet this arc of coast, right round to_ Riverton, is old in European contacts, ante-dating the Otago plantation. It has memories, visible at times, of whaling. and gold-getting. As usual, Mr. Reed discourses pleasantly and cy ore on landscape and history, and introduces us to interesting living people, though now and then there is rather more trivial detail of the daily round than is necessary. As one expects from experience, the illustrations are excellent.

A.

M.