WITH TENT AND CAR

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 22, 26 January 1929, Page 24

WITH TENT AND CAR

A WEEK IN SOUTHLAND

THE SOUTHERN LAKES

(By "Trip")

(All Eights Reserved.)

There are many ways of enjoying a camping-holiday with a car, and whether this be a luxurious limousine or the humblest model on the road, provided the weather bo good, and the car running well, nothing can give a greater sense of freedom than the open .road, and the knowledge that safely stowed in the back of the car, is sufficient camping gear for comfort. The writer, himself a motor-camping enthusiast, has motored in some queer models in days gone by, but he had never as yet had quite so cheap a holiday as four friends recently had. Fired with enthusiasm, according to themselves, as the result of an article on a run through the North Island, they forth with, purchased a car for £10! I leave to'the imagination of readers the appearance of that antiquated model. At first it appeared to fire' on all four cylinders at once; then refused to lire at all. A touch of .mechanical, genius in one of them, however, succeeded in getting the ear into passable running order, and thereafter it worked overtime. . For three weeks -it was harried from pillar to post, and without; mishap these enterprising men /covered the whole of the' North Island, camping where they chose, and, on one or two occasions when the car jibbed, just where they were stuck. The car doesn't look any better for the trip, but it doesn't look any worse, and to-day re.poses gracefully in a. vacant section, from whence- it is brought out at weekends. The owners say it doesn't owe them anything.

The story is perhaps a little irrevoJant, but it shows hoiv economically a motor-camping holiday can be managed. The day when a car was expensive to buy, and still more expensive to run, has, gone, and to-day many thousands of miles of care-free motoring jaro: secured from even the cheapest of models. A GREAT DISTRICT. Southland is a fortunate district, for ■ v it .combines the fertility of ' Taranaki ■with a scenic beauty which is practically unsurpassed in -New 'Zealand, and it is from Invcrcargill that the easiest routes to^tlie Southern Lakes are available. No motorist .camper, who visits Southland is likely to come away without visiting the cold lakes, and if time permits . the overland walk from To Anau'to Milford Sound should also be made a part of the programme. Although there arc back roads leading to the.lakes all the principal roads lead out through Lumsden, some fifty miles frijm Invereargill and the centre of good sheep and dairy country. The road through pipton is., clearly /defined, and w.ill give no trouble. ..*:' •■■ ;

There are several ways of seeing the lakes, and tho one chosen will depend largely' on ■ tho time available. From Lumsdcn roads lead out to Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri, and also up to Kingston, Lake Wakatipu. Provided time is available, "Trip" would suggest that the best plan is to run through to Te Anau from Lumsden, camp there, 'and.then take the steamer, across to )ho' head of the lake, whence the track leads across to -Hilford Sound. Tho walk takes either two or three days, according to' tramping ability. There is-little need to describe its beauties. It is widely known as tho''most beautiful walk in;tho world" and if there is anything more magnificent or more aweinspiring, than' the mountain and forest vistas seen on this route, then it is. won't! orf ill! indeed.-- . LAKE WAKATIPU. . After returning to the car, it is possible to run down to Lake Manapouri, but there are no roads round the lakes, and the whole time is spent amidst the most exquisite bush settings in. the jnost peaceful atmosphere imaginable. There are many aspects to our.New Zealand scenery, and that of the southern lakes is one of peaceful serenity. To proceed-1;o, Kingston it is neccsaryto go ' back as far' as Lumsden, and strike- northwards,. a well marked, passable road leading right to the ■ town. If the motorist, has spent as long in Southland as he desires, it is possible to put the car aboard the steamer at Kingston and run it across to Queenstown, and from there make north over the Crown range to Fairlie or Mt. Cook. It may be as well to mention here that unless it is intended to make the journey overland from Queenstown it is not worth while taking the car across the lake,.as there are comparitively few car trips to be made from Queenstown itself.' ■..■'•

It would be impossible to proclaim too loudly the beauties of Lake Walcatipu no matter how long is spent there on the many delightful steamer or launch excursions the camper will come away feeling that the time has been all too short. Hemmed in by snowcapped mountains, with wonderful panoramas of. land and water, Wakatipu is magnificent.!. It is possible to camp in a. well appointed ground in Queenstown —a, small charge is made—and with, this as headquarters, explore every nook and cranny of the lake.