TOURIST RESORTS OF THE COLONY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 164, 11 July 1906, Page 3

TOURIST RESORTS OF THE COLONY.

(By Marama.-,

No.- X. PROM GREYMOUTH TO WEST-

PORT, AND THROUGH THE < BULLER GORGE TO NELSON. Greymouth itself is a most interesting town, which at present is suffering • through, lack of hotel accommodation. J However, in the course of a very short • time this cause for complaint will dis- j appear, as a couple of large and up-to- ' date hosteiries are in process of eree- ' tion. J A nice drive is to the State coalmines and along the sea coast to Point Elizabeth, while the «.coalmines at ' B'.-onner are well worth running out ] the nine miles by train see. By ' taking the train to Kotuku, twenty- ' one miles from Greymouth, on the , Otira hue, the Haupiri Spring can be . ■■-"isited, and this is a very interesting ; place. Any articles left in the water - for a few days become covered with a ' thick coat of silica, and have the appearance of being petrified. ! On each morning during the week, ' except Thursday and Saturday, a train leaves Greymouth for "Reefton at 6.45,1 ! a. distance of forty-six miles, arriving ! at 9.30. On these days a coach is ! waiting to take passengers to the Inaugahua Junction and on to West- ' pert, which is reached at about 6 J p.m. This allows travellers on Mon- * day and Thursday to go through the lower portion of the Buller Gorge to 3 AVcstport, leave there again the next ' morning at 7.30 for Inangahua June- ( tion, where a coach for Motupiko is ( picked up, and Nelson can be reached J either on the Wednesday or Saturday even.Bg. i Leaving Greymouth, the trainMruns ] for some distance alongside the Grey- : River; and then takes a turn through a fertile vailcy, the greater portion of E which has been cleared of bush, and is ' used for cattle and sheep grazing. > • J Upon arrival at Reefton, the town- - 1 ship is seen on the opposite side of the ' river from the railway station, and f drags run across- the bridge to the township, the fare being one -shilling. Those conveyances, run to the Post Cfhce, where the coach for Westport is * waiting in readiness to start. From this out passengers are taken 1 charge of by Messrs. Newman Bros., ' who have all the coaches fjrom Reefton * up to Nelson and down again to Blen- ] heim. The first stage is from Reefton \ to the Inangahua Junction, a distance of J twenty-two miles, and here luncheon ] is obtained, as well as the first change ' of horses. } From Reeftcn the «road follows the Inangahua River for the greater portion of the distance, going through the small townships Cronadun and Larry's, both of which were famous in the old gold-digging days. There are still several dredges at work in the river quite close to the road. Five miles before reaching the junction there is a his- i torical spot known as "The Landing,-' i at which most of, the stores and re- \ quisites were landed for the diggers.* 3 Boats were towed up the Buller by c means of horses on the bank, and then ( along the Inangahua to this spot. For £ many years a ferry existed there, but ( this has now been replaced by a sub- i stantial bridge across which the road i goes to the Junction. j • Just • after leaving thi3 spot the; ac~ •tual junction of the Buller and Inan- « gahua Rivers is met with, and then the \ road enters the far-famed Lower Buller , Gorge, -which it follows about eighteen 1 miles, on the southern side of the river. ] The scenery for nearly the whole distance c is superb, the river being shut in by high j hills on either side, while in many places, \ the road is cut out of the solid rock, and! several rock arches and tunnels have to \ be negotiated. ( These are densely covered , with beautiful ferns, and along the road £ are some extremely fine tree ferns. Each \ turn in the road opens up new scenes. \ which it would be difficult to describe. < For a few miles the bluffs above the road j are of limestone, thickly studded with . vegetation, and there are also some very ] fine limestone caves with beautiful stalactites. One of these is over three miles long and extends right through the hill , to the Inangahua side. »In the summer , time this can be traversed from end to ( end, but during the winter it is the , source of very fine waterfalls. About ] Sine miles from Westport the gorge \ opens out, and the coach crosses the big i stream by means of punt. From there 2 to the seaport the country is fairly level, , and most- of the bush has been cut out. , The formation for the Wcstport-Reefton \ railway has nearly reached this cross- -\ ing. Westport is a busy little town, and \ some good-sized steamers load coal at ] the big staiths there. .Those who have • a day or two to spare can profitably : spend the time in running out by rail ] to the Dennistbn coal mine, where the j large incline is quite worth seeing. j Those who are tied for time can re- | turn to the Inangahua Junction the next i morning, and after luncheon at the ac- : commodation house can start on the jour- ; ney to Nelson. About half a mile from : there the Inangahua is crossed by a~fine • bridge, and a short distance further on '. the Upper Buller Gorge is entered. Though not quite equal to the lower portion, the scenery all through is certainly very fine and varied, there being many • points of interest on the way. Ten miles from the Junction the river ■ is crossed by a substantial bridge, and the road climbs up to the old-time digging township of Lyell, which is perched high up on the side of a hill. Just after passing this a change of horses is got. and a few miles further on a halt is : j called for afternoon tea. Later on the | • gorge opens out for several miles, and ' the Fern Flat is passed through. This . has been mostly cleared, and some very : good homesteads are to 'be seen. About half-past six Longford is reached, and here the night is spent at the accommodation house, the distance covered-al- i together for the day being sixty-two j miles, with four changes of horses. !: At half-past eight on the following i morning the coach is again at the door, and the gorge is again followed until ' i the river Owen joins the main stream, : i just below the township of the same; ! name. The road again returns to the < gorge, and the Buller is not left until j' its junction with the Little Hope, hay- I ing been followed more, or less for over j i ninety miles. The Hope is then follow- j 1 ed to Hamilton's, where dinner is ob- i tamed, and after crossing the Hope y Saddle, from which some magnificent i 1 views are obtainable on a clear day, ' i some fairly good farming country is 1 gone through until the Motupiko stn- t tion is reached about 4 30 p.m., and s hero the coach is parted from, after a s pleasant day's run of over fifty miles.- c The name of this station has just been c altered, and now appears in the Rail- " way Guide as Kohatu. j S The train leaves here at five o'clock, f and Nelson is reached shortly after 7 jv p.m.. Aites leaving Kcfaatu, the train c

runs through the great Belgrove Tunnel, and.: then for some distance down through Foxhill and Wakefield.- From | this latter place into Nelson there is a fine stretch of agricultural country, bordering, on the Waimea Plains, and as the train speeds. along, one can well imagine himself in Kent, so Englishlike are the farms, orchards and gardens,, quite the feature (being a large number of splendid hop gardens. Kelson has many attractions for visitors, and a few days can be profitably spent here. The drive round the Bocks Boad to Babbit Island is a very pretty coastal one to the south, while to the north is another nice drive of ten miles to Cable Bay, where the headquarters of the cable staff are situated. The walk up the Maitai Valley to the water reservoir is a very interesting one, and sea trips can be made by regular steamers to Motueka, Taltaka, and Collingwood, which are all situated on the shores of Golden Bay. _ Steamers leave Nelson every day for Wellington, calling in at Picton in the Pelorous Sounds en route. Between Nelson and Picton the French Pass is gone through, and the well-known white fish "Pelorus Jack" meets and escorts almost every steamer through. It is a most interesting sight i.o watch this immense fish gambolling alongside and occasionally rubbing: himself against the forequarters- of the boat as she glides along-at full speed. To those who prefer a further journey overland there i s the . trip from Nelson to Blenheim, a day's journey of eighty-three miles over the Maungatapu Bauge, where the notorious bushranging gang of Burgess and Kelly committed the final outrage upon society that led to their arrest and execution. The Eai Valley is then followed, several low saddles being crossed, after which Haveloek, the centre«-of,a>large timber export, ia passed, -arid after %-ayelling-for about fifteen miles through- the- Kaituna "Valley the Wairau River is crossed, on thel south bank of which is Renwicktown, and a five mile drive down the Opawa and the coach pulls up at Blenheim. Picton is only fifteen miles away by rail, and here the steamer can be joined for WeDtngton. which-is only, four hours' run across Cook Strait. The fares on this trip are.-—Rail from Greymouth to- Reefton,.-5/10 .first-class and 3/11 second: Rseftbh to Westport. 20/ single, 30/ return; Westport i to Motupiko, coach, -55/ single, 80/ return; Motupiko to Nelson, train, 4/ first-class. 2/8 second;- Nelson to Blenheim, 25/ single and "40/ return; Nelson to Wellington by boat, saloon 20/ singly 30/ return; PictOn tc Blenheim, rail 2/4 first-class.' and 1/7 second; Picton to Wellington, saloon single IS/, 20/ return.