PERILOUS JOURNEY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 173, 24 July 1930, Page 11

PERILOUS JOURNEY.

MOTORING in snowstorm.

NAPISK-TAUPO B.OAD

truck snaps telegraph post.

(By Telegraph. —Otto Correspondent.) TAUPO, Wednesday. A Tai'po motor carrier had an exciting experience on Ms last journey from Napier in a truck. He had with, him lis wife and Mr. J. Loughlin, and they left Napier early in the afternoon,, and passed Te Pohue with nothing to complain oi out cold. When ascending the Titiokura Hill (2350 ft) it commenced to snow and did not cease till near Taupo. Darkness fell about the Mohaka Bridge, and the ascent of Turanag Akuma (2750 ft) was made safely in snow several inches deep, ■with the track, of course, quite invisible. Only a man thoroughly acquainted with every bend would have dared to continue, for the wheels would whirl rouud on any specially slippery place, and the truck would slide like a sledge. Frequently, being unable to grip the surface, the truck would be backed down in its tracks and put at it again over the hardened tracks. However, the party reached Tarawera safely and decided to go on. The ascent of the Ohinekulcu (2350 ft) •wa3 worse, for by that time the snow was Tin deep. The windscreen wiper was blocked and frozen, and the driver had to proceed with his head out of the cab. However, after a lot of trouble the party got over the hill on to the plains. The greater part of the plain between the Waipunga River and Taupo, a distance of 34 miles, is 2300 ft high, so no improvement could be expected in the conditions. They plugged along to Opepe, eleven miles from home, but on a slide the truck struck a telegraph post which had been reinforced with railway iron. It tore the iron off and snapped the post, which fell with its wires on the back end of the load. With the help of Mr. Brady, who lived close to the place of the mishap, the wreckage was cleared away and some small repairs made temporarily to enable the truck to complete the journey. Taupo was reached after midnight, after a ten hours' trip, such as Mr. Loughlin said he would not undertake again for £1000. The telegraph service was interrupted all next day. Many tracks of deer were noticed in the snow. It is. said to have been the worst snowstorm experienced on the road for many years.