A TRIP FROM THE COAST.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10268, 10 February 1899, Page 5

A TRIP FROM THE COAST.

•* A ROUGH EXPERIENCE. * ______ FINDING THE ROAD WITH MATCHES. The passengers and mails by the West Coast coaches arrived safely on Wednesday night, after an experience over the road of a particularly rough description. The general opinion of tourists and inhabitants on the road i? that the Governor and his party must have been bom under the very luckiest star, for it was not until after their departure that there occurred the greatest flood known on the road for twenty years. Among the passengers who arrived safely on Wednesday were several who bad been weather bound since Tuesday, the 31st January, and one of them supplied a representative of "The Press" with a graphic ac- > count of the troubles encountered in the trip after the waters had subsided, the flood ihaving fallen almost as quickly as it had risen. ■ The journey from Aickman's was quite I hazardous enough, and if typical of that to Aickman's, tho - through passengers must have had a very anxious time. At Jackson's the coach was detained an hour, and when it reached Aickman's at 7 p.m. speculation was rife as to the chance of the successful accomplishment of the trip. The Teremakau bridge, which was depicted in the Christmas number of the "Weekly Press, has suffered considerable damage, piles having been shifted and. rails bent. The mails had to be trollied over, and passengers assisted. The river was running in flood from bank to bank, and big houses and trees were almost submerged. "When we left Aickman's/' proceeded the traveller, "we found great difficulty in crossing the Otira. The rain had been falling for days, and the snow melted _y the nor'-wester made the river almost impassable. The engineer of the Midland railway at this section had poured out tons of boulders from his ballast train to protect the embankment near Aickman's Post Office, but when anxiety was at its highest the welcome news went round that the flood was subsiding, at which there was a general feeling of thankfulness. The coach party—coach and waggonette, driven . by the Messrs Campbell—consisted of about twenty persons, of whom seven or eight were ladies, who bore the hardship with greater fortitude than their male companions. Bel.w Aickman's, Rocky Creek, a gully which has practically no fall, had discharged volumes of water carrying soil, stones, and boulders, from the size of a walnut to a four ton block, which buried a bridge, donkey engine, and pile-driving apparatus. The railway and road men camped in the vicinity considered ' themselves fortunate in saving their lives. On reaching Goats Creek, we negotiated a hastily made track, the ordinary road having disappeared, and the coach also seemed inclined to follow its example. At Kelly's Creek the vehicles stuck, and the male'passengers walked the plank—a beam of the bridge with a very narrow flat surface—to the other side of the river, the operation not being undertaken with relish by anyone. At McDonald's hut the road had also been washed away, and we managed to get over the soft surface by good luck. Then we reached the Otira, through a great portion of which the men found it necessary to wade, the«horses being unable to draw the full coaches. Here we liad to say. good-bye to coach and waggonette, and walk through the Gorge. The first bridge**?was sunk; at Wallace's Point the.road is scoured away, leaving a surface of rock more interesting than pleasant. At Otira Castle ('Bill Williams's Hut') the greatest difficulty in the way of slips—which were numerous—was met with, and Williams ought to be thankful tlhat it so narrowly missed hurling him and his castle into the foaming torrent below. This short journey of two miles took us about two hours, and billy, tea and bread and butter were appreciated while we waited for the pack-horses with our luggage and the ladies." '■__' •' ■""' """ ' ' "Here we met the coaches from the Christchurch side, and we proceeded on our journey, as darkness began to fall, though some of us reluctantly followed our ieaders. The road was frightfully rough, and Pegleg creek introduced the coaches to a pitching and tossing as bad as, if not worse than, a steamer in a storm. The Devil's Punch-bowl was made in the dark; it waa pouring with rain, and the atmosphere was bitterly cold. The road proper had gone, and _ac coaches in the morning had picked their way over the Bealey riverbed. By the aid of lighted matches and candles we made out the old tralks as we stumbled over boulders, and two road-men piloted the coaches, which threatened every minute to topple over. Eventually we got through, and were met by the O'Mafleys, after 4£ hours in the riverbed. They helped us down to the Waimakariri, over more rough road, which made us hang on to the coach straps, and then we j reached tlhe Hotel, where, around a roaring J wocd fire, we soon bacame comfortable once t mere, and made up a small purse in recognition cf the services of the road-men and the pluckines-' of the drivers. We were only about five hours late." "The road at present, as far as 'Otira Castle,'" our informant continued, "is not fit for vehicles, though the drivers of the coaches, whom nothing seems to daunt, would probably contradict this. The road is pa_i_ble for horses and bicycles, if the latter are carried a -good distance. It is reckoned that £2000 will not cover the cost of the necessary repairs."