OFF BY ROAD

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 150, 22 December 1938, Page 10

OFF BY ROAD

THE HOLIDAY RUSH

A RECORD LIKELY

ROUTES AND ADVICE

Anyone who looked in at the office of the Automobile Association, Wellington, this week must have been surprised at the number of people seeking information about their holiday tours. The counter was never free of inquirers, and if this can be taken as an indication, road travel.this Christmas should constitute a record.

"Remembering that one person in every six owns a motor vehicle, and supposing that each car takes four people, one realises that, although motor-cycles and lorries are included, the greater portion of the population will be travelling on wheels for the next ten days," said the chairman of the association (Mr. E. A. Batt) today.

"The cars which are taking the road vary from the £3000 mansion on Wheels to the £25 'buy,' the ,owners of which think they know enough about mechanics to keep it' on the road. Then there is a group of young fellows who pay £10 for an old car, and intend going on a long holiday tour. There is one aspect of this last type of car which the association is very much concerned about, the poor quality of tyres it generally carries. 'Please wire £5. Blow out. Bill,' a telegram received by a parent I know, indicates the type of tyre I mean."

Referring to the log route loose-leaf system, Mr. Batt said that as an indication of its popularity and of the numbers who would be travelling over,the Christmas period, in the past ,four days the association had issued 700 to members, the tours varying from Wellington to the Wairarapa, to Wellington, to East Cape, and the far north. Some seek their holiday at the tourist resorts, and others go to all sorts of trouble to get away from them and spend a quiet holiday .off the beaten track. | POPULAR ROUTES. The routes concerning which the greatest number of inquiries were being made from the association, said Mr. Batt, were those between Wellington and the thermal region, and on from there to the East Coast beaches lying between Opotiki and Waihi. , Main i routes included that along the west coast through New Plymouth to Hamilton, a most popular run for years, as it has a greater amount of paved surface than any other of the main routes. Weliington-Nap-er had long been a popular route, and it was paved with either bitumen or concrete, but from Napier onwards to Taupo the roads were either, gravel or pumice. On the west coast route access to the thermal region was by Wanganui and Raetihi, and through National Park and Taupo, or from Bulls through Taihape and Ohakune. On these main routes, in the past few years, great improvements had been made, and generally speaking [ there was not a great deal to choose between, them, but a certain amount of reconstruction work was being carried I out on them, and depending on the weather conditions and on the state in which the portion being reconstructed t was left,. the surface varied. A WARNING. "The association issues a general warning," continued Mr. Batt, "to those visiting the thermal region that in travelling on pumice roads, especially if a dry spell has been experienced, the utmost care should be used, because in certain classes of pumice the surface becomes very loose, and in places is even like sand, and it is a very simple matter to lose control of steering in such circumstances." RECONSTRUCTIONS. North of New Plymouth and in the vicinity of Mt. Messenger, there were extensive reconstruction works, and though the Main Highways Board was making every endeavour to keep the surface "as sound as possible there were one or two short stretches which would require care and patience. The Wairoa-Rotorua road through Waikaremoana, though a much-im-proved road to that of a few years ago, is receiving extensive improvements between Waikare and Ruatahuna. To anyone who knows the Hopuruahine Gorge, the work which is being done in this precipitous canyon immediately strikes one as being of the boldest character. From Ruatahuna to Murupara there is today a two-way road with . a surface which can be described as reasonably good. ROUND EAST CAPE. Regarding the popular East Coast route round East Cape, there is a metal road between Opotiki and Hicks Bay, and so to Gisborne, generally speaking a narrow road with steep pinches, needing careful and skilful driving. The main difficulty on it is the ~unbridged streams, two rivers, the Raukokore and the Whangaparoa being the worst. In fine weather it is possible to negotiate these two streams with the larger cars, but the district is subject to sudden rain storms. With a slight flood the Raukokore is impassable, and even normal freshes alter the position of the ford. The association recommends seeing the coast from Opotiki to Raukokore, and returning the same way.