MOTORS AND MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 84, 3 January 1930, Page 15

MOTORS AND MOTORING

(By

“SPARE WHEEL.”)

ROAD TO “THE CHATEAU”

FROM WELLINGTON VIA WANGANUI

SCENERY WORTH THE BAD ROADS

Some people say that one can drive from Wellington to “The Chateau” via Wanganui in one day. No doubt that is quite correct, but whoever says that it can be done evidently has no thought for the driver. The road to Wanganui is excellent, and presents no difficulties, even to a novice. But the road from Wanganui to Tongariro—well, if one trys to imagine the writhing of an agonised serpent, one gets some idea of it. There are some straight stretches, and some good surfaced stretches, but they are few and far between. Usually when the road is worst, the scenery is most beautiful, and all in the car can enjoy it except the driver, and there are many miles of wonderful scenery. Up the Wanganui River. Leaving Wanganui, the river is followed for about seven miles, and then one strikes inland. For a distance the road is quite good and reasonably wide. Fifteen miles past Wanganui the driver is confronted with a notice to the effect that for 25 miles there is a narrow road, and that there are steep hills. The notice does not lie. It also advises the driver to proceed with caution. This is quite necessary. The road is simply one succession of bends, and the surface is fairly rough. Worst of all, it is so narrow that it is impossible, iu many places, for cars to pass. The traveller who keeps his eyes on the road and who sounds his horn when approaching bends, need not worry much —that is provided approaching drivers act in a like manner.

Some of the scenery on this road is beyond description. The various reaches of the Mangawhero River provide some glorious views for the trav-

eller. Very few dwellings are passed on this 25-mile stretch, which is mostly over hills. Perhaps one of the bugbears for the driver is the Parapara Gorge, where great care must be exercised in driving. For the last few miles before reaching Raetihi the road becomes both wider and smoother, with the result that the driver becomes decidedly more cheerful and gets quite optimistic about the rest of the journey. Charming Scenery. About 22 miles on the Wanganui side of Raetihi are to be seen the beautiful Raukawa Falls, on the Mnagawhero River. They are truly magnificent, and their beauty is greatly enhanced by the fact that there is such wonderful scenery in the vicinity. Another beautiful view en route is that of the three tapu lakes, which, though only very small, look like sheets of coloured glass in a vivid green setting. At Raetihi, where the Taihape-Oha-kune road joins up with the Wanga-uui-Parapara route, there is a little bitumen road. It seems like Brussels carpet after the other. The scenery between Raetihi and the Chateau is almost indescribable. New Zealand’s inland bush scenery stands alone, and mere words cannot adequately describe it. Ordinary words cannot describe the road. From Raetihi to Horopito (8 miles) it is fairly good. In fact, parts of it are quite good. Parts from Horopito onwards can only be described as glorified bush tracks. However, that does not seem to worry most people, for the scenery more than compensates for the road. The route followed is extremely tortuous, but it passes through some of New Zealand’s most beautiful native bush. At one stage the road circles under the famous Makotote Viaduct, over which runs the Main Trunk line. Numerous bridges are crossed, and the drivers who intend going to National Park would do well to remember that they are all one-car bridges, and also that a number of them have very difficult approaches. The Wainiarino Plains. At Erua one comes to the famous Wainiarino Plains, from which, provided the weather is tine, some glorious views of the mountains may be obtained. If the weather is bad, one sees thick mountain mists and feels them too. The road continues on over the plains, past the Waikuue Prfton Camp, and shortly before the National Park station is reached those Intending to visit “The Chateau” turn off to the right at cross-roads, and start on the ten miles journey to it. Six miles of this road are fairly good, but the last four (from the junction of the ’Taupo Road) are anything but that. There are some bad pot-holes, and even on stretches of road that look quite good one finds them iu the most unexpected places. However, .“The Chateau” itself and all its surroundings more than make up for the discomfits of the road. National Park is a place that no one should miss visiting, and although the winter time is really the best for sports, the summer months are almost as good, for even ski-ing may be indulged in during the warm season. Apart from that there is plenty of fun to be had at “The Chateau,” where no one could be dull. WHEN TO “CHANGE DOWN” A COMMON FAULT. In driving about the country, and observing the manners and customs of other motorists, one wonders sometimes why certain drivers hang on to top gear so long, and, when ascending a hill, only change down at the 1 t moment. . With present-day gear-boxes, where a silent change is easily effected after a little practice, there would appear to be no reason for just struggling over the summit of a hill in “top,” when, by changing gear halfway up, the engine will keep running sweetly _at a fair rate of revolutions. By keeping the engine struggling not only does the speed die down and the car take longer to pick up once the summit of the hill is passed, but undue strain is thrown on the transmission and working parts of the engine itself, The best plan is to change gear while the car is still travelling at a fair speed. The exact speed will, o. course, depend upon the model in use, and whether a three or a four-speed gearbox is fitted.

There Is a right speed on every car at which to change gear, and that speed is generally very much higher than the average owner-driver believes. Expedimenting with a car on a fair gradient, and noticing the varying performances according to whether gear is changed early or late, will soon teach any car owner the exact speed at which it is best for him to change down with his particular engine. WHY HE LIVED SO LONG “Yes,” said the oldest iniiabltant, “I attribute my long life to the fact that for the first sixty years of my life there were no cars, and that the last forty I have been confined to my house with rheumatics.”