KOWAI BUSH.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 15894, 7 May 1917, Page 9

KOWAI BUSH.

(STZCIALLT WRITTEN' FOB "THE TRESS.") (Bv a Pedagogue.) j Within two hours' run of Christchurch, by rail or motor, lies the peaceful little settlement of Kowai Bush. It nestles at tho foot of the Torlesse Range, in a trianglo formed by tho base of tho mountains, tho Waimakariri, and one of its tributary streams, the Kowai. Its altitude of over 1300 feet, and its distance from tho sea, 52 miles by tho railway lino, givo it climatic advantages that should appeal strongly to tho dwellers on tho coastal plains. The dry, bracing mountain air is more potent in its cfficacy than all tho chemist's drugs. To tho wearv, brain-fagged worker from tho city, it acts as a wonderful tSnic, while to tho lung-touched invalid, it is, in truth, Nature's healing balm. Indeed, there would seem to bo something of the elixir of life in tho exhilarating qualities of this mountain air. Tho good tolk of tho district don't appear .to grow any older. There aro men hero of tho Psalmist's three-score years and ten who arc still equal to tho exhausting labours of a shearing and harvesting season. A few years back tho settlement bado God-speed to a halo and checry old farmer of 81 summers, who was leaving on a visit to the Old Land. True, sinco his return, "Dad/ 5 as he was affectionately called, has gono to his long homo. But it was not old ago that carricd him off. An accident in his earlier years had left its ill-effects upon his hardy frame. Genial old philosopher and humorist—how on-a cherishes kindly recollections of many pleasant hours spent with him over a pipe before the blazing wood fire in tho hospitable old farmhouse. Peace to his u.shes! f There arc not sixteen families all told in the settlement. When thi clarion call of duty rang round the Err.piic, the young stalwarts of Kowai Bush j-esoonded with ready alacrity. There was jiOw a waster or a shiikcr among vnein. '1 lie odd ono or two singlo men remaining, tho doctors have rejected, ut those taut reached the front, threo have e-ono down in tho struggle; otheis have returned, bearing Honourable sears, unlit for further activo sorvice; o.io lias earned a coveted distinction lor valour on tho field of battle. In • its quiet, unassuming fashion, Kowai liusli is proud, and justly so, of its fino The soil throughout this district is fertile enough. It is shingly, it is true, but well supplied, as it is, witJi moisture by copious rains, the creeks and water races, it produces crops or rape, turnips, and oats, that will bear more than favourable comparison with anvthine of the kind grown further down on the plains. Tho sheep and cattle thrive exceedingly. Iced is abundant. There is no drought here. /The pasture lands are, as a rule, as green in January as thoso of the plains aro in November. Often the nor'-west showers will fall so heavily at Kowai Bush, that the mountain sides are blotted, out by tho driving rain from the view of tho township tln;eo miles away, which, for tho timo being, is as dry as tho proverbial bone. Roundi about aro somo fino stretches of dairying country. Tho district is too Email to run a factory of its own. T^. 0 bulk of the cream, homo separated, is forwarded by rail to Addington. Kowai Bush is a delightful placo for a quiet restful holiday, when ono wishes to recupcrato. For reasons already as well as for, its own natural charm, it offers undeniablq attractions to the visitor. If it is rest that he needs, what more comforting than to take rug and book on to tho tussocky slope of Torlossu, right at his door, or tho edge of the sheltering bush, or, again into a leafy glado besido some winding week, there to doze, or read, or dream, as fancy wills, while tho indefinable charm of Nature's Jiandiwork and tho lung-filling draughts of tho glorious mountain air, work their silent miracles of healing? For tho more robust and encrgctic holiday-maker there is somo little variety. The triple peaks of Mount Torlesso. 6500 feet above sea level, tempt the climber. Tho view from tho summit is magnificent in its sweeping panorama, stretching to tho Peninsula 1 hills and the ocean beyond. Some good shooting can be had along tho terraces, i Hares are still plentiful, while. rabbits f are fairly thick in tho scrub and gorso " °n the river flats. Tho fisherman can v try his luck by whipping tho WaimakaT{. n ' a , , a way, -while further off in j ' ~" e other direction across the railway line, lonely Lake Rubicon, dropped dia- ■ mond-liko in a basin of the foothills, i .; J f tho omens are propitious, yield i - "*m more than a trout or two. Pleasant picnic spots abound, all within \ easy reach. In spite of the fires that J ravaged the district thrico within j ? tlc twenty-five years, there arc some pretty patches of bush, mostly birch, still left along Dry Creek, Wet i C _2 Paterson's Creek. Tho waterfall and cascades in tho lastnamed, between the railway bridge and the junction of the creek with tho Wai- | fflakanri, fully repay the visitor for his j scramblo down the somewhat precipitons banks. Dry Creek, paradoxical though tho statement may appear, has * good stream running for the greater part of its course, oven in a dry sum®Jcr. At a point a few hundred yards - "Dove where tho old traffic road crosses : V v'- , wa ter disappears under the | ' \ single. For the rest of its course, until the river is reached, the bed is • • r dry- Henco its name. And now, per- ■ naps, the reader can sec why Wet Creek _ is so called. Two miles away, following tho West Coast railway ]ine, the Waimakariri emerges from its mountain gorges. Just at that point, and for a stretch of a few miles down-stream, the .river, pursuing a serpentine course between - precipitous banks, patched here and (• there with clumps of bush, presents as | Picturesque a sccne as the eye could j; Well wish to gaze upon. Farther down. | the remarkably uniform terrace forma- |. faon attracts attention. It looks as if f-: Kme Titan of old moulded them

with level and roller, so even and regular do they appear. Two or three homesteads nestle among protecting plantations or patches of bush, down on the lower river flats.

Tho West Coast railway lino passes through the settlement, the express stopping every time at tho little Bush station. A daily service through the busy Christmas holidays, with a triweekly sen-ice during the rest of the year, keeps tho farming folk in closo touch with tho city. A tiny post office has telegraphic communication wiih the outside world per medium of the telcphono to Springfield township, three miles distant. " "Up till a few years ago, three of the comfortable farmhouses in the district made a point of accommodating visitors. Now. however, there is but one. So that if one contemplated a visit to Kowai Bush, it would be as well to mako enquiry wit : i respect to rooms some little time ahead It is on record that a one-time Governor of New Zealand and his wife spent a few nights under ono of these liospitablo roofs, and, with characterises consideration, they, too, have left on record an expression of warm appreciation of their short stay. Conveniently situated midway between the outermost farmsteads stands a small school, where a scoro of rosycheeked, sturdy youngsters have a happy timo under tho firm but geiLtlo guiding hand of a demure little mistress. On the quiet of an autumn day their fresh young voices come through tho open windows —voices that bespeak zeal i n pursuit of knowledge contentment with their lot. Amidst delightful sylvan surroundings, and "Far from tho madding crowd's ignoble strife They keep the noiseless tenor of their way," and one wonders Destiny has in storo for them. Maybe among that little handful there is some latent genius, some statesman in embryo, some youthful Demosthenes, who, in later years, will sway tho nation with the power of his voice! Who can tell ? It is in "the lap of the gods!'' To watch these merry youngsters pre. pare for the homeward journey after school is to get a lesson in self-reliance and kindlv consideration on the part of the country boy. One manly nttie chap, for instance, after harnessing up for two girlies who have to drive across the river, proceeds to get his own chariot ready. And this same chariot is worth inspection. Jn some respects it resembles an Irish jaunting car on a small scale. It is merely a substantial, well-padded sort of box,, with high sides, set on a pair of low wheels. Once safely ensconced therein, the small fry, a bunch of four- bonny children, have not the slightest fear of coming to grief on the four mile journey home. Tho chariot was the handiwork of their father, a stalwart dairyman, who, by tho way, served his country well throughout the courso of the South African, war. But our time is up. Wo leave tho placo with a pang of sinccro regret. The shadows are falling, and the evening express is due, bound citywards. We linger over a last look at the mighty mountains now bathed in all tho wondrous glory of. sunset light. There comes to us then a feeling of peace, indefinable, but infinitely satisfying—a feeling that helps us to realise, in some measure, something of tho old Psalmist's deeper meaning -when he said, "J will lift up mine eyes unto th© hills, whence cometh my help." And so, with bodv and mind strengthened, and eoul uplifted, we return to the daily routine in the city, once morn equipped anew to face the battles of life.