BICYCLE TOUR

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 53, 5 March 1925, Page 14

BICYCLE TOUR

NELSON, WEST COAST, &

CANTERBURY

A PLAIN NARRATIVE

(By "Mary, :Jean, and Me.") ' (Continued.)

The next day—Sunday—we started full of interest in our trip through the unknown. The Pahikis over which the road travels is an open plain or moor, swampy in character, £nd almost devoid of any useful vegetation. The country is all gold bearing, in quantity sufficient w pay our National Debt; but it is so line and difficult to save! that it remains where it is. Some day science may disC»°j"s-' a Wa^ o£ w°rkinff and saving it. Addison's I'lat Township, now consisting of one hotel, was. passed just after passing Dirty Mary^s Creek, and the road turns towards the coast, leaving the fanikis and crossing several beautiful * -?u ms ,with hiSh PaPa b-lnl<s covered with a luxuriant growth of ferns and pretty bush. After skirting the coast r!?L_? few niiles ' tlle old township of thirleston was reached. Our progress had been delayed by a perished and leaky inner tube. It was necessary to take off the back tires tour times before the tube was satisfactorily repaired. Charleston in its palmy days had a population of from 10,000 to 12,000 people, 80 hotels, eight constables,' and a mounted man. Now the. population might be »b01?t £%> one hotel,-and one con-I stable. From here to Brighton—our destination for the night—the roa« is seldom used,- and is, therefore, in almost an impassable condition. It leaves the coast and rises over the hills from 800 to 1000 feet, reaching close to some precipitous ' lime stone country covered with beautilui pine forest and fern trees. On the descent some splendid coastal views were obtained towards Cape Foulwind in the north and towards Punakaikai in the south. The road in parts was good, and we were soon down to sea-level again. About tsn-miles from Charleston the road ends at an old church, and our enoice lay between going across the padodcks or taking to the beach. The evening was very fine, and the two miles of beach with the heavy B urf dashing on it looked the more attractive. The "oing was a bit soft, and we could see the homestead in the distance. It took us a good long time to reach it. The house is beautifully situated on a terrace .near, the mouth of the Fox River facing the broad Pacific Ocean and the settinl 1?± Wft did nOt rdi*> ¥°w «» horizon before 7.30 p.m. It was after 7 o'clock when .we arrived, and we anxiously inquired if there would be time for a swim before tea. The household was however run to suit the rising and setting of the sun. Full advantage was taken of the long evening, and we had ample time to have a delightful bathe in the river near its mouth before tea, served" about 8.30 p;m. .Upon: arrival we noticed a beautiful bed of strawberries in the garden, r and in the kitchen we observed that there was a quantity of the picked fruit. We wondered if they had been picked for jam or for tea. Great joy when a -large dish full appeared on the tea table. It was a meal fit for a prince. Full justice was done to it, and the girls modestly refrained from having more than two helpings of strawberries and, cream. A CANDID CRITIC. The hosts were Mr. and Mrs. Price' fine old specimens of the pioneering type, and the family all grown-up met and women, together with the next generation crawling about the house They very kindly undertake to provide accommodation ■ for such wandering lunatics as ourselves if ample notice is given) by telephone. The old gentleman appeared to be pleased to engage us in conversation, and expounded advanced views on production and distribution which led him on to express opinions of the Union Company often heard in places less remote than Brighton. He also held strong; convictions on other questions, and if able to order the lives of all of us would have produced a nation of teetotalers and non-smokers .He expressed his confidence in the present Minister of Public • Works, and I was able to convey his message to Mr Ooates as we passed through Christchurch.

I Brighton, or, as it is now called to save confusion, Tirimoana (view of the : loSk at °ne, time ha«i a population of 2000 people, hotels, banks, £Sops, police quarters, and B uch like. There is in existence a very good photograph of the township in i^s palmy days. Today very little remains to mark its position except the limestone cliffs over the Fox River, which can be clearly seen in the photograph. It would have been possible to spend two or three interesting days at Brighton if time permitted. The i< ox River is a most beautiful place, and a ride up Us bed on horseback, with the limestone cliffs covered with beautiful vegetation rising on each side, presents a scens unequalled in the Buller, Wanganui, or elsewhere. There are limestone caves to.be seen, and the ballroom under the overhanging cliffs where it is c always dry no matter how hard it rains. Because the sun sets late at Brighton, Jv. 3S *°w *<> rlse. and it was 9 o'clock the following morning before we were L aD 6« ? l the 'other side & river by a flat-bottomed boat. The route from here is alongside the coast, and for the next 30 miles the coastal scenery is declared by those who have seen it to be the finest in ,New Zealand. The •Faparoa Range presses closely on to the coast, and rises from the coast in limestone cliffs covered with a beautiful pme forest, nikau palms, and fern trees. lhe beach Jine is a series of high promontories, with long stretches of sandy I turf beaches m between. The day was most beautiful; but it was very hotpushing the bicycles over the limestone ww" g?h ,™° had a beautiful ride where the bridle track was undisturbed and the young bush met overhead. It was 10 miles before the road from GreyS? T* S f ?l l, at Punakaikai. Here the wonderful blowholes are to be found, and there is good surf bathing. During a recent Sunday 43 cars from Greymouth made the trip to this spot. It was 1 o clock before we had seen all he sights and were ready for a bathe in the beautiful Punakaikai River. We did not move again until after 3 p.m., | whe n v had a da . i , nnles along a good flafc roa d to Ba £ ! j town Everyone in the township ap- | Peaved t0 know that we were about to I arrive. An extra special hot dinner was served at the new hotel, and we were in good form to tackle the next 19 m&s to Grreymouth after 6 o'clock. This we did in very good time, with Uie assistance -of some friends in a motor-car who had come out to meet us and gave us the benefit of their head lights. The road over the 12 ttfcle I bluff is a wonderful piece of work; but proved very expensive to make. A day's test in Greymouth was very welcome and very enjoyable, made possible by those who, with characteristic West Coast hospitality, insisted upon faking | charge of the younger members of the party. , INTO THE ALPS. The next day, Wednesday, we took the train.for about 10 jnilcfi to Kurnara, _ uud then rode' in- a direct line up tlie Teremakau, right into the Southern Alps.

ing- by reason; of its being at one time the home of the Right Hon. R. J. SedJon. We saw the site where his house stood J and counted eleven hotels from the time we entered the township to the time we left at the other end, Dillmanstown. It was thirty years ago that I last cycled up the Teremakau. The road is not quite so good now, and there remains only about five miles of the beautiful bush avenue, but the mountains-are as glorious as ever. We did our twenty-two miles before lunch ' comfortably. The Taipo river proved a very tempting place for a rest. It is a beautiful, clear, swift-flowing river, crossed by a- large steel cylinder bridge and fed by a small anow field which we could see on the mountain top above. The water was delightful, but a little sharp, and the current was too swift to allow us to go far out into the river. V\e had a. delightful swim.by crawling along the bank up-stream and then five or six strokes back with the current to our cainpang ground. The sun was hot, but there wa« a cool breeze, and we lay down under the trees and enjoyed ourselves for a good three hours. ' ' It was noting after we started to and" & hfT we.reached Jackson's! rfdden , ,? *"? miieS to Otira were ThereV?? 6" faToUrable conditions, in tIL« ? n 'l heavy tr°Pical *ower ..maw,J* '.I' h ;'.»^'"tt remarkable 'forth! ™ thls, season. is to th« Ktt ldJ" g Pcg > and were down „ , -mere was, howevpr a n« rt j chmb over the rocks am?! 1 j g volume of water coming over is LreSr took the' train to Springfield, intending to get out there and ride across the plain to Christchurch. When we arrived it was raining hard, and had been more or. less wet all day. We therefore stuck to the train, had a comfortable night, and spent the whole of next day i m Christchurch, returning by the Maori with the Canterbury Bowlers, who were engaged in a match against Wellington, on the following day. SOUTH ISLAND'S SCENIC .' WONDERS. ! Looking back over the journey, one is struck with the wonderful scenic 'attractions of the South Island, so little advertised, as compared with.those in the Worth Island, co much advertised. One can picture in a few years' time when the roads are made, and the bridges built, the beauty of a. drive starting' from Timaru to Hermitage at Mount Cook and then back past-Lakes Tekapo, Pukaki Ohau, Hawea,. and Wanaka, through,Haast Pass to Jackeon's Bay trom here the route would extend up the coast with the beach line on the one hand and the Southern Alps towering up on the other, past the Fox and tu-anz Joseph Glaciers,; both easily accessible through the beautiful avenues or pine, forest pasf Hokitika and Grey:no.ith and then along the coast as just described, to Westport, finishing up with Gm-r^Tr'-T thr°U Sh the Buller v g » , s ls> however, only a norTher e ° Irt S°*\™™<l attractions. b,f m remaw the attrao«ons of Watt^T* ? lana? ouri ' and Te Anau; X «,/«?' Wal^ m the world to Milford and the wonders of tha W P , . ri I cafs I Y^TJ* the Tffi