LURE OF THE WILD

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 135, 5 December 1933, Page 5

LURE OF THE WILD

MILFOKD SOUND EOAD

OPENING UP FIORDLAND

SUPERB SCENIC DRIVE

(By E. E. Muir.)

now bountiful Is Nature! ho shall nnd Who seeks not; anil to him. who hath not nskctl Largo measure shall'be dealt.

Wordsworth,

While the clrivo up tho Milfora Sound Kernel, as far as it lifts been completed, is generally acknowledged by tboso who hnvo been over it us, the finost scenic drive in New Zealand, there is ample reason for declaring that when the road is finished through to its terminal, the incomparable Milford Sound, it will be tho finest scenic drive in tho world. This, at first glance, seems an extravagant statoment to make, but then it must be romombered that one is describing country which is unique in its sccnio glories and which for so many years has been famous as the region of the Milford Track, "The Finest Walk'in tho World.'' FINER THAN THE MILFORD TRACK. The reader, perhaps, may be able to form a better appreciation of the superb scenery through which the Milford Sound Koad passes when it is explained that the Milford Track, which starts at the northern end of Lako To Anau and' terminates at tho head of Milford Sound, traverses tho entire length of tho Clinton and Arthur Canyons with from 4000 to 6800 feet mountains risiug abruptly on either side, and the wall of tho Mackinnon Pass (3800 ft), separating the two canyons, about half-way along the total distance of 32 miles. :, The Milford Sound- Eoad, on the other hand, .passes along tlio eastern shore of Lake Te' Anau for 18 miles, and then enters the Eglinton Valley, the next mountain corridor on the right of the Clinton "Canyon,, passing up its entire length of 28i miles to .-.Lake Lochie Saddle (1740 ft), the Livingstone Raugo.on the right of the road, being slightly -higher, though not so';.-steep as.'the ranges seen beside the Milford Track. With only a mile or two left to complete the road to Lake Lochio Saddle the route- then to bo followed drops into, the magnificent .Upper Hollyford. Canyon, passes along it to tho source of the Hollyford River at Gertrude saddle (4820 ft),. which has to be tunnelled, and then down the superb Gulliver and Cleddau Canyons to Milford Sound, disclosing in full view cm route most of the finest peaks, glaciers, snowfields, lakes, rivers, forests, and waterfalls of Fiordland, a remarkable galaxy of the wildest, grandeur, and finishing up at the wonderful Bowen Falls, one of the loveliest waterfalls in the whole world. In the Upper Hollyford, Gulliver, and Cleddau Canyons—for they are certainly ''that—the scenery is of much greater, variety than that to be seen from the Milford, Track, the vistas arc finer, there is much more that is thrilling and of unsurpassable grandeur, and tho mountains, which will bo, seen in full* view on the right of the road, aro nil higher and bolder and adorned with all the jewels Nature can provide. The road will have a total length of 73 miles. Of this distance' 02 miles of road have. .been .constructed, leaving only 21 miles to complete the enterprise which really represents a very notable event in the history of New Zealand. BEYOND THE END OF THE EOAD. To middle-aged people in ordinary physical health who wish to obtain a correct idea of some of the splendours through which the road has still to go, and who have the time to spare, the suggestion is made that they should stay at Cascade Camp (1570 ft), a little more than ilhree-quarters of the way up the Eglinton Valley, and, selecting a fine day, visit Lake Howden and make the ascent of Key Summit (3046 ft), the terminal of the Livingstone Eange, which is only 1306 ft above Lake Lochie Saddle. Driving the car past Lakes Gunn and Fergus to the ond of the completed portion of tho road—by Christmas time it will be possible to drive on to Lake Loehio Saddle —they will leave the car there, and continue along the partially-mado road past Lake Lochio to the, saddle, where, still in the bush, they will take the- track to the right, which, in zigzag formation, winds gently up the mountain side, passing some charming waterfalls in handsome sylvan settings en route. Finally the ■ track passes round the western face of the mountain, and, after traversing a very interesting bolt of alpine flora, comes to a junction, which, at an elevation of about 2600 ft, leads down on the loft to the supremely beautiful Lake Howden (2200 ft), only a short distance off, and upon the right up to Koy Summit. Visits to both are well worth while, particularly to the Summit, which affords the most extensive views of one of the finest portions of Fiordland. A SERIES OF SURPRISES. After the gradual ascent by the road up from Te Anau, which only rises 1100 ft in ', the whole distance of 53 miles, the motorist, on reaching Lake Lochie Saddle, is not prepared for the abruptness of the drop down through the forest into the Hollyford Canyon and for the sight of two fine snowcapped peaks, Mt. Lyttle (6277 ft) and an unnamed peak (6800 ft), which, in great toush-clad buttresses, rise up out of the void on the far side. Tho change is so sudden as to be startling. But many more pleasant surprises await, tho motorist as he ascends the zig-zag track. He' has not gone far before a still more beautiful vision, hitherto hidden by,the end of the Earl Range on tho left,'^discloses itself, the Ipvcfy Mt. Christina (8210 ft), one of the two stately queens of Fiordlaud, in all the glory of her regal magnificence. Two miles distant, rising straight up out of the sylvan depths below in one huge mass, Mt. Christina is here seen from the right elevation to appreciate the boldness of her outlino and the richness of her dressings. Up to tho 3000 ft lino her precipitous sides are robed in the finest forest, which, in turn, gives place to black precipices and glittering snow and icefields, and culminates in a majestic wedge-shaped peak which soars in the blue, over 6000 ft above the observer! ..... Straight in front, on the far side.of the void, between Christina and Mt.; Lyttle, appears a charming elovated valley, which, walled off in the west by the jagged Crosscut Kango (about 6800 ft), is wonderfully picturesque and deserves a suitable name—rfor, like so many other peaks and valleys in tho whole district, it is not yet named. This elevated valley is tho borne of three mountain gems, Lakes Marian, Marianette, and Mariana, the first of which is plainly seen from the zig-zag path. ROARING RAPIDS AND LOWER HOLLYFORD CANYON. Issuing out of Lake Marian, three miles off, the lover of the sublime and the beautiful sees a silver streak of foaming rapids plimging down through the forest into the Hollyford Canyon. Those, ivho have seen the wonders of the' Milford Track never fail to make an impression on their,friends by stat-

ing, wlum referring to the Sutherland Falls (1904 ft), the highest in tho world, that tho roar of them can bo heard half a mile off. But tho roar of these rapids, which tumble 2000 feet in their course of one and a half miles is much greater, and wo could distinguish it from,where wo stood, mingled with the, roar of ■-.:the Hollyford cataracts, which j wero unseen below. . ' ~ , Hounding the western faco of Key! Summit, a fair distance further up, still another wholly extraordinary and unforgettably beautiful scene bursts into full view—tho lovely scenic paradiso of tho Lower or Great Hollyford Canyon, hemmed in on both sides by high, precipitous snow-clad mountains which lift their peaks into tho sky, with the broad, blue Hollyford River, far down below, flowing through tall, dark green forest which covers the canyon floor. Running north for 15 miles, almost in a straight line, as it were, until it is cut off by the high Skippers Range, the view of this great canyon is so extensive and so remarkably beautiful that when-it is better known ; it will bo universally acclaimed as being among the finest in New Zealand. , LAKE HOWDEN AND KEY j SUMMIT. The drop down the track to the Lake Howden hut to boil tho billy makes a charming interlude. The lake; itself, half a mile long by a quarter j of a mile in width, is close by, a perfect picture of Nature's own painting reflecting all tho colourings of the surrounding mountains in the mirror of its placid waters. . . . Away down past the southern end of tho lake, 12 miles distant, can be seen the David Peaks j of the Livingstone Range. j Enchanting as tho views of Lake { Howden and of the encircling mountains are, however, it is wiser not to linger there too long when such extensive pandrariias of so much of the finest scenery in Fiordland are obtainablo from Key Summit. Reascending the track to the junction and then completing tho short remaining climb of about 400 ft to the summit, the sensation, as one passes up through the crowning belt of beautiful flowering alpines and tops the final rise where the whole region is suddenly unfolded to view, is that of having been admitted to an exquisite paradise which few spots on earth can equal and fewer still excel. What a juniblo of high snow-clad mountain raugesl There are no loss than five of them all dazzling in the sunshine as they lift Jheir scores of snowy crests on high—the Earl and Livingstone Ranges to the south and south-east, the superb Ailsa Range close in. to the'east and north-east, the majestic Skippers Range to the north, and the finest of them all, the noble Dar-! ran Mountains with Mt. Christina to the west. . And how queer! All do-i bouching into the immense abyss of the Great Hollyford Canyon! . . . . Here,, looking in all directions, one sees the actual hinterland of tho worldfamous Milford Sound, far surpassing in its transcendant ■ grandeur all the vain imaginings of those who havo never seen' it,-all viewable for 15 miles and more around from such a central point of vantage, which is so easily, accessible as to constitute only an hour.'s walk—it cannot properly be called a climb—from a first-class motor road "when it passes over Lake Loehie Saddle!- ■ One requires to spend a couple of hours,at least, in viewing tho multiplicity of splendours that can be seen from this wonderful spot. . . What enormous precipices are there, what mighty palisades of alluring peaks, most of them unnamed nnd unclimbcdt What enormous chasms, glorious forests, amethyst, emerald and silver lakes, and glittering rivers that flow in so many different directions! Well might, one say with Wordsworth: . . . . full many n apot Of hidden beauty have 1 chanced to espy ' Among tho mountains; never one like this; So lonesome and .so .perfectly secure. "KEY TO WATERSHED OF OTAGO." This, the northern terminal of the Livingstone Range, is well named Key Summit, for, as Dr. G. M. Moir says in his Guide Book of the district, it "is the key to the watershed of Otago, for to the :norththe Hollyford flows out to the west coast; then tho Eglinton Eiver runs through Lakes Te Anau and Manapouri and the Waiau River to the south coast; finally the waters of the Greenstone 'flow through Lake Wakatipu and the Molyneux River to the east coast." On a fine day when .the sun is blazing down out of a cloudless sky, drawing up the vapours from below, the prospects in the distance are enhanced by a pronounced bluish, purplish haze, whilst on a cloudy day with the feathery mists of Fiordland slowly drifting about one is presented with weird and ever-changing vistas in which the mountains appear strangely ethereal, filmy shapes that grow out of nothingness . ■. ■. are splashed now and again with golden shafts of sunlight . . . and again grow dim and disappear. ■ ' Under the latter conditions Christina; so eloso in tho west, is, indeed, an entrancing vision to behold, so lovely in all her mystic bridal veils, towering up so high above one, lost and now revealed again amidst the, vapours that cling, and' hesitate, and don't seem to know where to go. It is like a beautiful moving picture such as ono would expect to see in heaven itself. Down in the Eglinton Valley Lakes Lochie, Fergus, and Gunn evoke admiration for their beautiful setting. . . . On the. other side Lake McKellar,. Lake Howden, and the fairyland of the upper Greenstone Valley nestle at one's feet, while the lordly Ailsa Range, a truly remarkable sight, is seen broadside on for many miles. "IT IS TO THE NORTH THAT ONE TURNS." Magnificent as these panoramas are, however, much as one wishes to take in the whole of their detail, it is to the north that one turns most frequently to renew one's impressions of the Great Hollyford Canyon. It is 1000 ft deeper now; than when it was first seen while ascending the track from Lake Lochie Saddle, an enormous gulch, the floor of which is 2500 ft below Key Summit, walled '■ inf. along its straight length .by 7000, 8000, and 9000 ft mountains—for Mt. Tutoko (9042 ft), the king of Fiordland, and Mt. Madeline (8380 ft), his reigning Queen, both unseen from Key Summit, are only around the far corner, on the left by the Skippers Eange. A visit paid to Key Summit is the memory.of a lifetime. Apart from the gorgeous panoramas to bo seen from there it possesses other interests. It is remarkable for the series of ancient earthquake rents which have riven its sides, and for tho profusion of its alpine and sub-alpine flora which grows in- full luxuriance and is such a delight to tho botanist and all lovers of nature. Even to the experienced alpinist. the ascent of Key Summit is an outing that tie should not miss; to the easygoing motorist of middle age it provides a magnificent reward for very little effort —unrivalled views, from just the right point of elevation of the gloriously beautiful wonderland that lies at the back of Milford Sound. The next article will give a description of the remaining 20 miles along which the road has yet to be built be(fore iti reaches Milford Sound.

Each year as winter spreads its pall Of chill, gray sadness over all, : Through weary' months there looms ahead The season mortals loathe and dread. Each year in turn to young and old There comes some form of cough or cold; And wise are'they who aid command In Woods' Great /Peppermint Cure on , hand.—Advt.