MARLBOROUGH SOUND

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 292, 5 September 1931, Page 14

MARLBOROUGH SOUND

New Through Route A PELORUS PROPOSAL (Contributed.) Every year sees larger numbers of Wellington people making acquaintance with the Marlborough Sounds, but even so there is little doubt that the development of this attractive locality as a holiday resort Is as yet in Its infancy. The great handicap of these beautiful Sounds, both from a settlement and holiday point of view, has been the Indifferent access. Queen Charlotte Sound is, of course, easily reached. The ferry steamer Tamahine provides direct communication with Wellington, there is road and rail to Picton. and from Picton no less than six launch . services run to various points in the Sound. With Pelorus Sound, the case is different. This is the largest of the Sounds, the bulk of the settlement is in and adjacent to it, and in it also Is the busty-clad Tennyson Inlet, the most beautlflil spot in the northern portion of the South Island. \ The outlet from Pelorus Sound is by the little township of Havelock at the head of the Sound. Unfortunately the water is so shallow here that even the settlers’ launches have difficulty in reaching the wharf when the tide is out On Tuesdays and Fridays three launch services leave Havelock: ono departing at 7.15 a.m. makes a run of 120 miles to the outer portion of the Sounds, returning at 8.45 p.m.; a second launch does about a 70 miles run to a number of the bays in the middle portion of the Sound; and a third service covers a 60 mile round to the inner bays. Another route into the Pelorus, and that most known by summer visitors, is by launch from Picton to Torea Bay, and thence by a mile of road over the hill to Portage on the Kenepuru arm of Pelorus Sound, From this point a connecting launch runs around ttye pjenepuru arm in which are situated most of the holiday accommodation houses. It is worth noting that since the Union Company put on the Tamahine five years ago, there tyas been a fifty per cent, increase in accommodation in the Sounds, ttye present capacity of the resort establishments running at about 900 guests. Most of these places in the rush season have far more applications for accommodation than they can deal with. New Road Built.

A new development in the Sounds this year has beep the completion of a road to the Croixelles Harbour. This fine inlet lies to the west of the Pelorus Sound, and is separated from it by a neck of land half a mile wide. The settlers in the outer portion of the Pelorus are most desirous that the Croixelles road should be extended on to Elaine Bay on the Pelorus side of this neek, an undertaking involving about ten miles-of road construction. Such a road would undoubtedly revolutionise conditions in Pelorus Sound. To the settlers it would mean vastly improved access and nil the advantages that follow in its train. From ttye cjty dwellers’ point of view a notable result would be the opening up of the whole length of the PCloruS Sound as a holiday ground. With a road to Elaine Bay, alongside Tennyson Inlet, the gem of ttye Sounds, a route right through Queen Charlotte Sound, Pelorus Sound, aiid the Crolxelles harbour would at once be opened, Starting from Picton there would be a six-mile launch trip, across to . Torea Bay. Next would come a mile by motor across the present road to Portage. From Portage would come a thirty-mile launch run to Elaine Bay, or a little longer with a detour into the neighbouring Tennyson Inlet. At Elaine Bay service car would be taken for Nelson,’ about 55 miles distant. Sixteen miles of this latter run would be around the shores of the Croixelles Harbour, with ever-changing vistas of bold seascape and landlocked bays, followed by. a drive of some miles through a great State Forest Reserve, finally running down the Ronga Valley to join the Nelson-Blenheim coach road at a point 30 miles distant from Nelson. A Popular Holiday Ground. The views along the existing portion of this road to Okiwl Bay, Croixelles Harbour, are very fine and arouse visitors to enthusiasm, but they Will be finer still along the ten miles between Okiwl Bay and Elaine Bay. No doubt grander scenery might tye opened up by toad construction in the Southern Lakes and Milford Sound district From the resort point of view, however, the pre-eminent claim of the Marlborough Sounds is their accessibility to Wellington and other centres of population. They are above all the holiday ground for that great body of ttye public looking for inexpensive outings. In the one portion of the pelorus at present conveniently accessible to the Kenepuru arm there is at present a bunch of seven establishments with accommodation for 240 summer boarders. With 'a through route opened iip there will be a string of such accommodation houses right through to Okiwi Bay, for with inexpensive travel through the Sounds, and with Tennyson Inlet made accessible, the summer traffic is bound to double and treble within a Very short time. With this route opened it will be possible to breakfast in Picton, lunch at Tennyson Inlet, and dine in Nelson. Pelorus Sound, at present a dead-end, will then be taken in on the itinerary of travellers making through trips to the Buller and Franz Josef districts. Settlers Benefited.

To the s.ettlers in the outer Pelorus this improved access would mean a big thing in malty ways. To start with, it means better competition for their live stock and produce, as the number of buyers visiting these at present remote localities will increase. It means that with better transport more effective use can be made of the fertile soil found in the valley bottom around the Sounds. The “Marlborough Express,” for instance, was not long ago directing atthe valley bottoms around the Sounds, country for the raising of early vegetables, with Its mild and equable climate. In the Croixelles, for example, lemon trees flourish and bear profusely. Improved access will enable thp settlers to get away small goods at a payable flgute. The development of the summer boarding business would also mean a welcome addition to the settler’s income in many cases. These benefits would extend not only tP the settlers in the Pelorus Sound itself, but also to those on the adjacent coastline outside. ... The effects of lack of access in retarding a district are to be seen iit the Croixelles. Until the Construction of the road this year this was the least accessible portion of the Sounds, and It contained more abandoned homesteads than occupied ones. The chief reason for this state of things was undoubtedly the fact that, access had not improved, and was, in fact, inferior to conditions obtaining there thirty years ago. Wearying of this isolation settlers gradually drifted away to other parts. Claims of the Work.

As an earliest of their desire for the extension of the Croixelles road to

Elaine Bay, the settlers in the outer Pelorus have signed a petition to be included in the Croixelles road district. Work has to be provided for the unemployed somewhere, and access to a district in which very little public money has been expended for many years past has, they claim, at least equal claims with expenditure on mipor improvements on existing roads. The tools, tents and gear used on the Croixelles road are still on the spot, and expenditure will be almost solely on wages. Further, the unemployed can be transported from Wellington direct on. to the job by a few hours’ steamer run from Wellington. It is further contended that should the Government not be prepared to authorise the whole expenditure, a section of the road from Elaine Bay in the Pelorus over the neck to the Croixelles might well tye put in hand.. This cculd be taken on a line so as ultimately to form part of the through road. It would enable the route to be opened up to a fair extent, and the settlers are confident that once the public were familiar with the route they would receive substantial backing In their request for its completion. At a time when the Government is under the necessity of finding work for many thousands of unemployed, the settlers concerned are naturally desirous of making the merits of this undertaking as widely known as possible.