MOTORING

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 65, 18 March 1930, Page 16

MOTORING

EVENTFUL MOTOR TRIP. FROM GISBORNE TO ROTORUA. UNDER FLOOD CONDITIONS. HOLIDAY VISITOR'S IMPRESSIONS. (Concluded.) When we came to the first slip on the road —tons of clay studded with shrubs and small trees, completely blocking the road and leaving no room to get round without climbing down a slippery, muddy bank—l was just in time to see a young lady attempting to follow a man over the top of it, but she got into a treaclierous bit and sank up to her knees in soft clay. Her beautiful shoes and silk stockings were a sight to behold! But Se made fun of it, while her heart "ached, I'm cure. To climb round ■ the lower bank seemed the safer way to I&ose-following, but it was not accomplished without disaster to shoes and stockings. And.so it went on, with variations and wide detours to avoid swamps and mild and streams of water coining from the h'ills, streams which must have been Taging tourents at the height of the storm, judging frojm the amount of debris in their courses down the gullies and spread all over the. road, completely blocking motor traffic. It took us exactly an hour to reach the oars, and there" was no lagging on the way, so that the mile and a half which was said to separate the two #et« of service cars when we started our walk must have been the usual countryman's estimate of distance —as the crow fties!

There were five service cars waiting, and as we all came straggling in, hot, tired, niudstained and bedraggled, we presented a strange sight indeed. Our party comprised most of those who came down the Mererfiere, with the

I addition of others who joined at Opoviki. The luggage was eagerly broached by i the ladies, who required clean stockings, shoes, etc., to rearrange toilettes and freshen up generally. There was plenty of clean water coming down the wide gully. It made a spread-out riverbed of shingle many feet deep across the road, forming a series of streams for a distance of about 150 yards. Shoes and stockings were washed in the streams, as well as feet, legs, arms and faces. We had to hurry, though, as the drivers did not give us much time. As u?ual, our party, being the largest, had the biggest and best-looking motor vchicle. Travelling Again. It was about one o'clock when we got away from here —very thankful, indeed, to have a comfortable seat m the shade of a fast-moving vehicle and feel the fresh breeze in our faces as we sped along the beautiful country lining the way to Whakatane. It was ti uly wonderful, after what we had come through and witnessed on the flats about Opotiki, to experience the pleasure this scene gave us —the peace and beauty of the green hills and valleys, the smiling countryside dotted with substantial and well-kept homes, the trees and shrubs and lawns, the sheep and cattle lazing around in groups, feeding on the abundant verdant grasses, the swollen river in the distance, the bushclad valleys, the waterfalls sparkling in the brilliant sunlight. There was still plenty of water about, mark you, but all under : perfect control and seemingly in its proper place to make for beauty and usefulness. We passed,a private car early on the way. The driver held out his hand for us to stop long before we came to him. He wanted to know if he could get through to Opotiki. "Not to-day," said our driver. "How long would it take? "About three days. Better go round by Taupo," replied the driver with a wink all round as we moved on down the beautiful river-gorge towards Whakatane., Nothing more exciting occurred than the occasional crawl round slips on the road with a drop into the river if the driver made', a mistake. There were many to negotiate, but few of any consequence, and workmen were working, and had been,' 1 obviously, from very early morning. A bend in the road, and Whale . Island lay straight ahead. Whakatane was reached at 1.55. Twenty minutes were allowed for refreshments, but this extended into 50 minutes before we got away again, owing to .engine troubles of. some, minor kind, necessitating the motor being put into a garage.

Meanwhile the ladies of our party •were having a joyous time iu the shops, also repairing damages. We left Whalcatane at 2.45. The driver soon discovered that his fan was broken, and those motor mechanics at Wliakatane came • in for some lurid criticism, out of earshot, of the ladies. We went the rest of the way without the fan, which meant, a long stop at Lake Roto-

rua to cool down. We got there at 4.20. If you have- never been through the gorgeous bushclad drive up the v alley to Lake Rotorua and round the three lakes, don't waste any more precious days than you can help before you see it. We arrived at Rotorua at 5.40 p.m. on a race day. Six of our party wanted to go right' through to Auckland, and the service car people were equal to the occasion. We had to split into two parties, to meet' again at Hamilton, where a special car was arranged for us. The first party left Rotorua at G. 30. I w T as in the second. We had a powerful private car with an obviously skilful driver, a Scotsman, and we picked up that three-quarters of an hour on the run to Hamilton, arriving, there at 5.40, just behind the first party. Not a bad run on a dark race night.

Our united party lost no time in settling into the comfortable threeseater service car waiting for us, because five minutes sufficed to fix the lusgase, and away we went again at "Fifteen minutes out of Hamilton we began to slow down and our nriver called out "Who's the Jonah?" _ Something went wrong with the engine and our youthful driver couldn't fix it. Several cars passed us while he was working at it, and .one stopped asid two men came over to investigate, but it was beyond their combined efforts. Our driver decided to go back to Hamilton in the car, which was going that way, and get another bus. This meant, we estimated, at least a 40 minutes wait for us —15 to go, 15 back, and say 10 to get a fresh car.

We beguiled the time with song and story. The moon was now up and it was a lovely night, though cold. We were four ladies, two men and a unall boy of about 5 or o—a regular little brick. The time passed at a surprising rate. Cars went by at frequent intervals both ways. At last one slowed up and two men got out —our driver and another service man. We transferred into a smaller car with two dicky seats, a poor exchange for our comfortable

limousine left on the roadside in charge of the service man, who had to get it back ' to Hamilton somehow. Off again at 11.5, one hour and five minutes from the time we stuck up— not so bad under the circumstances. But what a difference in comforc for us two men in the dicky seats. We took it all in good part, however, and

my companion was a host in himself at keeping up the spirits of the whole party. We struck engine trouble ao-ain, however, before we reached Auckland. First on the steepest part of the Razorback, which stopped us, but not for long, and then again approaching Papakura, where we stopped to investigate. It puzzled our driver, being somethin" bevond his experience, and kept us at a slow pace for many miles, but we kept going, and, strange to say, the trouble, whatever it was, gradually righted itself. We reached Auckland about 2 a.m. and our driver undertook, with commendable cheerfulness and exemplary courtesy, deliver each of us to our several destinations. I was the first to leave the now subdued but undaunted band of staunch comrades at St. Stephen's Avenue, Parnell. The others were to be dropped at various points in the city, but one young lady, had to be taken to Dominion Road terminus. And so ended an experience which will undoubtedly linger in the memory of all who took part.