HAAST PASS ON HORSEBACK

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30146, 1 June 1963, Page 8

HAAST PASS ON HORSEBACK

Memories Of A 1937 Journey , [Specially Written for "The Presi" by HAZEL ELMSLIE) W'E motored from Wanaka late on the afternoon of March 8, 15>37, a sprinkling of yellow on the poplar trees at Hawea r lat reminding us that autumn was close at hand. 'At the Makarora accommodation house our horses soon were saddled and ready. Sandy was riding a mare lent to him by a friend, and I hired Rainy, one of the experienced high-country horses, from the proprietor. He was a big dark bay, gentle and sure-footed, carried my ten stone with apparent ease; and I became very attached to him. That evening we did the first three miles of our journey, walking our horses the newly-made road as far as th« Public \\ orks Department camp. Here we stayed the night is guests of the engineer and his wife in their comfortable Establishment, which consisted of a caravan and several tents at the edge of the bush. We all had supper together in the •aravan, and afterwards 1 was shown to a lent which made as good a bedroom as anynno wich In hnvf.

I was wakened early by the singing of the native birds and through the opening in the convas I could see rhe stillness of the foliage and signs of a glorious day breaking. After breakfast our guide, Ben Drake, joined us. riding his own horse and leading a pack-horse with all our provisions neatly loaded i on either side of the pack saddle.

Waving farewell- to our hosts, we started on our 60mile ride to the west, coast of the island.

At first our way lay along the valley where gangs of men were working on the road. Soon, after fording and refording the • Makarora river, we found that the track became grassy and quiet and then left the flat altogether. As we climbed up into the bush the going became steep and narrow. At Riley’s Bluff we had to dismount and lead our horses, the experience of Dr. Riley, of Dunedin who fell over the edge of the cliff and nearly lost his life, was very much in my mind. The track here was no more than a narrow ledge in the side of the bluff. Into Westland Once round the bluff we were able to ride again on a' good track. Bush-clad mountains towered above us against a blue and cloudless sky, while far down below we caught glimpses through the trees of the rushing Makarora river. Here and there a still, calm pool of dazzling green water, set in a bed of soft grey shingle, lay shimmering in the sun. When we gained the top of the Haast Pass (1847 ft we rode out of Otago Province and entered Westland, snowcapped Mount Brewster ,8264 ft an imposing sentinel. Now steep and slipping rock faces formed part of the track, and very slippery it was. Half the time I seemed to be either hanging on to Rainy's mane or else clinging to the back of the saddle as we were carried over the most impossiblelooking places. However, I soon became quite accustomed to this and acquired a more bushman-like style. We gradually made our descent, winding down the deep valley, high above the tiny stream which is the beginning of the Haast river, until we dropped to a more level path and found ourselves at the foot of the pass. Here we spelled our horses and boiled the billy for lunch, which we ate sitting on a grassy bank in a patch of sunshine which-shone through a gap in the surrounding trees All that afternoon our track led through the bush and as there is practically no bird life at this altitude the silence on *his calm and lovely day was breath-taking With the keen air against my face on that tree-shaded mountainside. I surely experienced some of the thrills of an explorer as the unknown Way lay ahead Occasionally we saw deer, s'anding very still and watching us intently before bounding away to cover Towards evening we rode out into the open and could see the river gathering strength and its bed widening on either side. At last, following down a long grassy avenue between tall trees, we drew rein at 7 o’clock befbre the Burke hut, a welcome shelter for the night after our 22-mile ride After, grooming our horses and eating a good breakfast, we continued our journey on March 10 in brilliant weather. We soon rode out of the valley' on to the flat riverbed, where, with the sun in our eyes, we found a good grass-grown track and were in a wide, open space between bush-clad hills. We dis’urbed hundreds of paradise ducks that were settled on the shingle and as we came near they all rose tip flew across the river. We were facing north and when we approached the junction of the Landsborough and the Haast river we had a magnificent view of Mount Hooker and beyond that Mount Macfariane Tn the far distance, as the day was so dear the southern end of Mount Cook showed up foa short time Th’a asoect of it is strangelv d'fferent from the familiar one of the double neak that is seen from the Can'erburv plains and I would not have recognised it if Ben had not poin’ed it out to us

Sure-Footed Horse*

On this second day of our ride we forded the rivers three times and after the junction of the two rivers the water was very deep, coming up over the stirrups. As the horses lurched ahead over the uneven bed of the river I frit ext’-emelv unsafe, with swiftly flowing water close below me and my legs dangling behind, I clung tightly to the saddle. It seemed miraculous the way

Ben found the best ford every time we crossed and got us safely over. When we landed on the opposite side we hobbled the horses and boiled the billy with driftwood from the river. Sitting on the warm sand, we had our lunch in the blazing sun.

Turning more or less to the west, we climbed up out of the wide shingle riverbed and rode into the vivid green heart of the bush where it was cool and dark. Here birds fluttered in our wake from tree to tree and I know of no better place than the back of a good horse from which to watch them. One can sit and gaze at will, while moving slowly forward under the trees. For hours we were surrounded by native birds—tomtits, fantails, bellbirds—all so close and unafraid that they seemed to be almost welcoming us as though we belonged there too. Occasionally we glimpsed a tui and heard its glorious song from overhead, challenging the clear and more frequent note of the bellbird. I had wondered previously whether the horses would frighten the native pigeons away as we rode through their habitation: to my surprise it was the low flying of these birds and the loud swish of their wings that startled the horses and made them inclined to shy.

As the day advanced we drew nearer to the edge of the bush and could sometimes see the river jibout a quarter of a mile away running ih the same direction as our track. That day the frequent changes of contrasting scenery were enthralling, but the going was difficult so that we travelled only 11 miles before arriving towards sundown at the Clarke hut which stood beside the track.

Bush Hospitality The huts are ostensibly for the use of roadmen employed on maintenance work for the county council. Consequently we were not surprised to find the Clarke hut partly occupied by one of them. He was a young man and was wearing a snow-white shirt, with rolled-up sleeves over his clean brown arms. Apparently he was used to being taken unawares and was qqite unconcerned. We admired the tidy and wellkept two-roomed hut and appreciated his smiling welcome. In no time he had venison and kumeras, enough for all of us, copking in his camp oven over the outside fire. I have never tasted a better dinner or had it in more beautiful and peaceful surroundings, sitting on logs and enjoying the stillness after the long day’s ride. I felt as if we were cloistered by the great straight trunks of the trees about us and towering overhead, while the last rays of sun glinted through from the west That evening Ben shot a deer some distance from the hut and brought back a haunch to hand for our return by the same track in a couple of days. On the 11th we made an early start on our last 25mile ride to the coast. We were again blessed with perfect weather and rode all day along a soft grassy path near the edge of the bush, leaving it only when we had to ford the streams running down into the Haast river. One of these tributaries is called The Roaring Swine. Some distance from it we began to hear tts roar and of course, it grew louder and louder as we drew nearer.

Before us was a raging mountain torrent rushing round enormous boulders. I could not believe that the horses would be able to pick their way between them without snapping their legs in half. However, riding him loose-reined. I left Rainy to take charge He was. as usual, quiet and calm and immediately followed Ben’s lead into the foaming water and with his eyes fixed on the opposite bank, made directlv for it. When I dared to turn roun<l I saw Sandy's brave little mare bringing him over in the same good style.

Later in the day we left ■behind us the giant treeferns in the density of the bush with its crowded undergrowth and tangle of supplejack vines and eame out Into otsen country. Here the rata trees were more profuse; on our left we could see their radiant scarlet flowers in the Tee-tops high up on the riiff side; and swav on our right ♦he swiftly-flowing river became deeper and bluer as ft rushed on towards the sea. When the light began to fade and the colours around us deepened into more vivid shades, we walked our horses quietly on until at last we came to the end of the track beside the Crons' accommodation house Before long we were all sitting down to dinner with Mr and Mrs Cron in their cosy lamp-lit room, where a log Are biased in the enor-

mous open fireplace At spending days in the op. the inside of a house is op press; ve and makes one lo:.. for more air. Nevertheh the comfortable bedroon were welcome that night When we woke late nex morning we found that was steadily reining. We dr elded to rest our horses t most of the day. taking then out after lunch for an h, or two and walking th, through the sandgrass to

ocean beach on the Tasn Sea. There we cantered th along the sand and en. with a short gallop. R., on thia occasion showed slightly rough gait, but w as ever, well behaved The Cron family had come very air-minded, h ing an air strip of their a. Since Captain Mercer Captain Hewett had s viced that part of West! . their lives at Haast had b< revolutionised from al::

complete isolation to reg mails once a week, as as quick and easy trave and from Wellington. this, they depended enti on a small steamer ca

once or twice a month , Okuru, a tiny port 10 m. distant by track down • coast. They continually sp.., of their great regard toi • air pilots and of their k.r ness and reliability. We left the Crons’ on return journey after an e« breakfast on the 13th. horses making a go<Ki w ing pace after their ioi., spell. The weather was t i but cool and fresh and think the ride home was • deed the most enjoyable p • of this adventure. To «>, again the citanging colours from day to day to feel vast serenity of it all second time, gives one added power of appreCiat.,,’ which is intensely satisfy n.: We rode up to the Cl.uk hut late in the afterno. • to be greeted as old frier s by the young roadman O.r venison was already cook« and with some kumeras. w.,. soon set before us to enj.x at ease in the hush of evening beside the glow ■ u embers of the campfire. W were sorry to move off nex day from such a delight! : resting place. On the 14th much the san good luck followed T!.< rivers when we made out crossing were no higher th;r before. We saw some Cana.i geese and again counties paradise ducks, but the wh heron in that vicinity st evaded us, so that I never got my longed-for sight of them. Days That Are Gone We arrived at the Burke hut in time to give our horses a good rub down before cooking ourselves an evening meal. We then decided to prolong our stay by making a detour and ®n the 15th, after cutting ourselves a sandwich lunch. »e rode four miles north along the Haast river-bed and then forded the Landsboroug. river well above the jun<tion. When across the river we were on the Landsborough airstrip, which was then the most southerly landing ground in the southern hemisphere. We cantered over the rough turf to the edge of the clearing and in the shade of some beautiful mountain beeches ate our lunch beside a log buildinc which served as a hanger It was sheltering some deerstalkers’ packs and a load of deer skins, obviously tc be picked up by the next incoming plane. That day all was so quiet and peaceful there that it was difficult o think of this lonely mountainlocked plain ever being disturbed by the noise of aeroplanes. We arrived back after our nine miles’ ride in the early afternoon and spent our l.is" long evening in the hut over a good wood fire There we found a large and ancien' visitors’ book for all to sign and in It we read of two men doing the through trip on foot in pouring rain and fording the rivers wi'h thi water up to their arm-pv« Reading this made me feel more profoundly grateful than ever for our steady horses and for Ben. who could not have been a better or more considerate guide. We left the Burke hut on the 151 h on our last day's ride. In spite of the hot sun the horses, with their faces turned towards home, carried us over the pass in record time. I was in no hurry mvself to come to the end of this memorable journey and felt that we would reach Makarora all too soon. The fact that we saw absolutely no-one else on the track during the whole of the time that we were on it, emphasises the loneliness of the back country; and, even in retrospect, a feeling returns of the freedom one exper ences there.

Now I quote from a recent newspaper: -With the road linktnr Otago and Westland completed from Wanaka to the Haast junction, a new travel route for motorists has been opened up, and this eventually will connect wf the West Coast arterial highway. Many hundreds of people have travelled over the Haast Pass during the summer month*." And *o time marches on Gradually the bush track' the back-country hones and the sheltering huts at nightfall will become a fade<> memory toon to be lost i: the obivion of the part.