THROUGH THE BULLER.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 144, 20 June 1929, Page 8

THROUGH THE BULLER.

DANGEROUS TRIP DESCRIBED.

GREAT BOULDERS ONT ROAD. OTHERS HANGING OVERHEAD. (By Telegraph.—Special to "Star.") WESTPORT, Wednesday' The far-famed Buller Gorge may be one of the scenic beauties of the Dominion, but it scarcely seemed so to- 1 day to two railway engineers, two miners and a "Lyttelton Times" .reporter, who were the first to break, through to Westport from the outside world. No one else completed the journey, and the five who made the trip successfully do not want to attempt anything of a similar nature again. The journey of just under 100 miles took ten hours-to complete, and it had many discomforts and some measure of danger. Snatching a few hours' sleep at Greymouth after a twelve-hour trip from Christchurch yesterday, the two miners and the reporter left that town at 7 a.m. for" Reefton, 'which was aS far as tho train could get, after a somewhat rough trip, with the speed restricted to 12 miles an.hotfr, and. the lines twisted and buckled. Reefton was reached at 11 a.m. and a quick change was made to service cars., Two of these, laden with passengers and mails, arrived at Inangaliua Junction at 12.30 p.m. On this trip cracks many yards long in the road had to be crossed, and a slip negotiated. With the Inangaliua River also to be crossed, it took all the skill of the. drivers to get through. However, Inangaliua Junction was reached without mishap. Only two complete chimneys were seen standing on the twenty-mile trip. The journey was done in pouring rain, and all along the roadside houses were seen without fires. The weather was bitterly cold, and the residents of that portion of the country are now living under severe conditions owing to the shortage of builders. Some of them will be without fires for several days. At Inangahua Junction, conditions were bad. Not a chimney was left in the place, and hot water for tea at the hotel had to be boiled in the open air. The First Obstruction. A mile past Inangahua the first obstruction was met with. A heavy fall of stone from high up tho cliffs had furrowed a deep cut across the roadway, and, although workmen were busy filling it in, it was anticipated that it would be some hours before it was fit for a motor to travel over it. A message had been received that a Public Works truck was just past the next slip half a mile away, and that it was intending to head for Westport. Service car drivers expressed the opinion that it was inviting suicide to attempt to get through, as even then the ground was still shaking.. .It was also learned that two -railway engineers had gone ahead, sqUhe two miners^and the "Lyttelton Times" reporter, decided to make the attempt. The service cars and the ether passengers left tof go back to Roefton. Once past the first slip good progress was made for half a. mile until the next slip was reached. This was a huge fall of rock, which obstructed the roadway completely. A large gang' of Public Works employees, whq had been diverted from railway construction works in the Gorge, were attempting to clear the rock awav. Blasting was in progress, and all the time small falls of rock came tumbling down from the cliffs high overhead. After a wait of an hour on th© other side of this slip the Public Works motor truck arrived, and the party of three was only too glad to move away from this rather precarious situation. Small, falls of rock were noticed for the next mile, or two, and a couple of miles along the road the railway engineers were picked up standing in an open motor truck, with rain falling as only it can on the West Coast. Fair progress was made, to tho next railway construction camp. Small slips had to be negotiated carefully, and boulders which had fallen on to the road from the overhanging cliffs had to be avoided. Deep Fissures in Road. Every now and then a deep fissure in the road would be traversed, in some cases there being a distinct step of six inches in some places. From the second railway camp to the i last at Tiroroa, near the end of the Buller Gorge proper, fairly good progress Avas made, the conglomerate nature of the country preventing anything in the nature of heavy falls. A big slip blocked the roadway at Tiroroa, and an attempt had been made to clear it. A huge rock which was just balanced on the edge of the cliff over- j head compelled the workers, to cease at j this point; for, with the constant sliak-1 ing of the country, there was a big dancer of the boulder coming down. The motor lorry had to be left behind at this slip; and, after wading through mud to the ankles —for it had been pouring all day—a railway construction blacksmith shop was met on the roadside. Here the forge was commandeered by the party, and each took a turn at the blowers in order to dry the clothes of the others, for all were wet to the skin. Arrival at Westport. After an hour at this point a light fiveseater motor car arrived, and this was impressed into service to carry the party the remaining fifteen miles to Westport. The passengers had to walk over one or two slips, and in places small falls of rock occurred as the car was passing; but, after a run" of 75 minutes Westport was reached. It could be seen during the journey that the construction of the Bul-ler-Gorge railway on the other side of the river had been seriously interfered with. Several of the cuttings are full of earth and tree trunks, while in one place a locomotive had been completely buried. On account of the rain to-day and the danger of further shakes no men were employed on the work. The workers along the route knew practically nothing of what had happened elsewhere. Nino of them had received milk or meat since Saturday, and it was only to-dav that a oar managed to bring them some bread. All the huts are constructed of timber, with iron chimneys, and none 'of them suffered damage. If the Buller River dam broke, as was feared might happen, many of the huts would be swept away. They are about forty feet above the normal water level, but residents of Tnnnealma' and Westport declarc that the river had been known to rise fifty feet Under abnormal conditions such as prevail at present. Tt was the fear of the dam breaking and sweeping through the gorge that kept manv of the passengers on the service cars from attempting