FROM WELLINGTON TO AUCKLAND.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13190, 10 August 1908, Page 5

FROM WELLINGTON TO AUCKLAND.

PARLIAMENTARY EXCURSION. THE FIRST THROUGH JOURNEY. AN ALL-XIGHT SITTING. (SPTCIAL TO "THE TOESS.") AUCKLAND, Außusfc 8. A' huddlo of familiar faces in thoy glare of the elect Tic . lamps, cries of farewell, an attempt at a cheer, end out epeci al, ladon -with its precious freight of politicians and lesser 'clay, steamed out into the darkness. One j half of the train was reserved for the ladies, who -vroro in strong force; the men occupied the carriages forward. The night woe full of quaint happening. Supper Tvas the first event; and ■was nicely eerved in tho dining car. At Paek&kariki, where a country danco was being held, couples in gala attire promenaded the platform and peered -irith envious eyes at the lucky legislators and their friends on their way to the Northern junketings. Supper over, the ladies swathed themselves in ruge aud -wraps and motor veils, and leaned back on their' pillows to get what sleep they could. In the menV compartments cards and smoking and yarning wbiled a;way a few hours, and then the more seasoned travellers settled themselves as best they could to sleep. There -were strange bedfellows. In one long carriage a well-known legislator lay full length on , tho floor besido a tired Pressman, and a judge, and a good judge, too, as Gilbert would cay, snored peacefully in o eemi-reoumbent position between a messenger of tho Lo-wer House and a -waiter from' Bellamy's. "The-night air grew keen as tto left the eeaboard and turned inland. At. Palmerston North, where we stopped a few minutes, some local trippers boarded the train. Thence for a time all was peace, except fora few prowle.ro in search of creature comforts, and the train officials, who came through the doors and picked their way over the recumbent forms. We pulled into Taihape at a quarter to fire in the morning, half an hour behind time, and after tho, thirst of the engines bad been elabod, and a man had tappod the -wheele with a. hammer and found them all sound, we started off again, and began to climb the heavy grades towards Waiouru. The dawn came -as we were skirting a forest, and revealed a country held fast in the.grip of King Frost. Tired travellers rubbed, the dean ©tit <if their .eves, <ihook up their footwariners, and conversation began t<o flow again; but.

for a time moncsyllabically. Weird figures unwrapped themselves from ruys and blankets and pillows, and commenced a pilgrimage to the lavatories for their morning wash or shave. For th* most part they were a seriousfaced crow, and the judge," who looked as if ho might give you six months on the slightest provocation, was treated with due deference. Shortly after 6 a.m. wo began to emerge into more open country, and half an hour later we. saw Ruapehu rearing his great cold snow-clothed shoulders above the frosted tussock r plands into tho pale morning sky. This glimpse wae but.a fore-tast© of greater glories to come, for a little later, on rounding ono of the upland curves, wo found the cold metallic, snows of dawn transmuted to Jiving gold, a glorious contrast to tho frosted silver of the tussock plain. Still in shadow northward, tho truncated cone of Xgauruhoe, in winter garment of spotless white, rose' in the clear distance, its quiescent fires sending no cloud of steam skyward. Wβ halted a while at Waiouru, wilderness of upland desolation, relieved only-By the view of the mountain. Then we began the descent towards tno great forest that skirts the western flanks of the mountain, and extends for many miles across tho Waimarino plains. The lino here is carved out of rotten country, steep wooded hillsides rise on the right, tho outer ramparts of Ruapehu, and great timbered gullies yawn below us. On tho loft we catch glimpses through the pines of foaming waters far below. Soon the gulches cross our path, and wo are in the land of the viaducts. The heavy train halts awhile on >taikatote, tho biggest of them til, and the passengers gaze spellbound into the sombre ravine, which carries a clear stream hundreds of feet below us. Westward Ruapehu towers in massive form to a height of nine thousand feet, a glorious sight, while eastward, far away across many miles of country* tho silver spear of Taranaki cleaves the blue. We have made good time so far,, and there ihave been 310 mishaps, though the big new carriages swayed ominously on the curves of the unballasted iin© between Ohakune and Makotote, and the water squirted uo as tho sleepers sagged under the weight of the heavy train. The halt on the great viaduct, with its glorious surroundings, was all -too brief. The engines bent to their work once more, and in a couple of minutes tho first paesenger train had crcsssd, and, tho eventful journey, over, the central oortion of the North Island Main Tnmk Railway was an accomplished fact. „. Beyond this uoint all was eaey. We jumped tte speed up to 23 miles an hour, iuid sped onward, dowu the "quaint spiral to Rattrimu. and soon to Taumarunui, i&e Uuion Jack aiul Stars

and Stripes fluttering in the wind above the cylinders of our front «h----gine.

fine as trpr© the views along the line so, far, they -were- presently to beoclipsed by tho glorious panorama that hurat upon our delighted g.izo as «c descended into the untimbered patches of. the . Waimarino plains. Ruapebu, Paretetaitonga, and Te Heuheu, the triple peaks of tho dying volcano, r ose grandly above tho forest lino near at hand, a dream of snowy light and shade, while on the left the perfect cone of Xgauruhoo and the lower mass of Tongariro gleamed gloriously in tho morning snn. Between us and the foothills were forests where deer and other game might thrive, whilo splendid trout streams, born in tho everlasting snenrs, ran westward to.join the mighty Wanganui. What a paradise it will be one day—is now in fact —for the sportsman, the botanist, the geologist, and the tourist!' What a )>lay ground for the hardy young New Zealander. and what a rest place for tho tired city man or the jaded invalid!

Of the remainder of our trip little need bo said. At Frankton junction there were three trains crammed with excursionists in front of us, and tho Union Jack and Stars and Stripes fluttered from the houses. One man had three flags flying—-the flag of England, the New Zealand flag, and tho Stars and Strips. Wo steamed into Auckland Station at 6.30 p.m., amidst the cheers of tho assembled, crowd and the playing of the hand.