MOTORING

Evening Star, Issue 17543, 24 December 1920, Page 3

MOTORING

[By Carbofjotoe.] Brief accounts of holiday trips, roads, and places of interest are invited for this cciumn. Some motorists may be contemplating a run to Invercargill during the holidays. This trip is now possiole under any weather conditions since the Main South road is either metalled or gravelled the whole way. To most motorists there is little difficulty in following the road, while a large number of direction signs have been erected of late years. In chatting with Mr Amos M'Kcgg the other day, 1 learned that quite a number of motorists take the wrong road at Henley. The mistake arises from the fact that the guide book mentions a bridge at Henley, and as motorists are on the look-out for the bridge they often take the one just at Henley, and get on to the Henley-Berwick road. Keep straight on .through Henley, and the bridge is about a mile further south. At Waipahi there is a chance of getting off the road unless one proceeds cautiously. The next turning likely to give trouble is that at 'Edendale. Here there should be sign posts—to Wynclham. to Dunedin, to Invercargill. The best road from Edendale is the one turning at right angles to the one entering that place. The road on the whole is very good. Grave! is being used very extensively. 33etween Milburn and Milton this material has simply "made" the road. The roughest road is between Balclutha and Clinton, although it is good for some miles past the former town. At Arthurton, on the famous Waipahi-Pukerau stretch of road, the surface is rough, but the rest of this portion has improved almost beyond recognition. Just beyond Pukerau a sharp turning at a small bridge needs to be taken carefully. Road right on almost to Invercargill a gravel surface. miles of it splendid, but with patches of gravel in places. From Edendale the road is also very good almost into Invercargill, but there are one or two portions newly gravelled. On the return journey the road out of Gore is probably the' only one difficult to pick up. A sign post "is required here. The distances~are : Dunedin to Henley 21 miles, to Milton 36, to Balclutha 51, to Clinton 71, to Waipahi 81, to Pukc-rau 89, to Gore 99, to Mntaura 107, to Edendale 120. to Invercargill 139. Lieutenant M'lntosh, who flew to Australia from England with Parer some months back, has accomplished another very fine performance. Up to date no motor cyclist had succeeded in making the overland-trip across Australia from east to ■ -west, the difficulties of negotiating the sandy country between the South Australian border and the western Australian goldfields being the cause. Lieutenant M'lntosh, with a Dunlop-shod Indian sidecar outfit, has succeeded in getting through. He was accompanied by a friend, who, through an accident (the side car axle a hidden stump), had to take to the train at Kitchener, a railway siding some distance from Kalgooriie. The worst stretch of the whole trip was 200 miles of sandhills between Port Augusta and Coldea. The rider was thrown to the ground many times, and the machine was put to a severe test; but it came through remarkably well. At several camps Lieutenant M'lntosh had to remain for a day or more to effect repairs. He had an exciting; experience when travelling between Kitchener and Zanthus. The motor cycle hit a stump and fell on him. pinning his foot to the ground. Unable to free himself, he lay there for two and a-half hours; ' but eventually, with the aid of a stick, which he used as a lever, he succeeded in lifting the motor cycle sufficiently to euable him to release his foot. When within thirty-seven miles of Kalgooriie Lieutenant 1 M'lntosh took the wrong track, and rode fifty miles out cf h : s way. Guessing he was off the track, he steered by compass through rough bush country, reaching Bulong just as his supply of petrol gave 1 out. Lieutenant M'lntosh said that he"felt ' none the worse for his trip, but declared that he would rather fly back to England than again make the journey to Adelaide on a motor cyole. Owing to insufficient entries, the pro- , posed motor cycle reliability contest along the Prince's highway from Sydney to Melbourne has been abandoned by the Motor Cycle Club of New South Wales. Any- ] way, Christmas time is too hot a period [ of the year for a strenuous reliability con--1 test. It is all right touring, for one can : then travel early and late, and rest during the hottest part of the day.

At the O.M.C- monthly meeting last week Mr J. Sinrm, of Messrs Boag, Son, and Sim, gave an interesting and instructive address on ' The Care and Repair of Tyres:' Various kinds of blow-outs, punctures, etc., were illustrated by portions of tyres thus damaged, being shown. The different abuses of tyres were pointed out, and methods of repairing fabric and tread illustrated. Mr Simm covered a good deal of his subject, arid his address was listened to with keen intere-st. At the conclusion a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the speaker. The formal opening of the newlygravelled section of the Brighton-Taieri South road on Monday was a most enjoyable function. Taieri county councillors, Kuri Bush residents, contractor and workmen, and Otago Motor Club members were present. The county councillors stressed one point : They hoped that the Motor Club would use its influence in the prevention of speeding on the newly-formed road. The road had cost a large sum of money, and it \va6 up to the motorists who now had a good road, to do their best to protect it. Among the Kuri Bush residents present was Mr Peter Leitch, an old identity, who was a fellow-passenger of Sir Thomas Mackenzie on the ship Robert Henderson, which arrived here in 1858, and is said to have been the second emigrant ship to. Dunedin. Of the gravel itself too much in praise can hardly be said. a lt is a very superior material," the finer stuff making a very "hard, binding material. The road hardens quickly, and gives promise of becoming the rival of the best surfaces in the Dominion.

"Carburettor" extends to his readers the compliments of the season.