HOLIDAY TRIPPING CENTRAL OTAGO

Evening Star, Issue 19776, 28 January 1928, Page 23

HOLIDAY TRIPPING CENTRAL OTAGO

MOTES BY THE WAY A CHEAP AND SATISFACTORY HOLIDAY [Written by W. B. Scott, for the ‘Evening Star.’] My holiday thoughts turned to Otago Central in search of sunshine. _ Intending to purchase a return ticket to Cromwell, I happened, by accident, on a tourist trip that is not as widely known as it should be. For the sum ot forty-nine shillings I received from the Railway Department a booklet of three leaves which entitled me to travel 100 miles by rail to Cromwell,_43 miles by motor to Queenstown, 25 _ miles by steamer to Kingston, and 174 miles by rail back to Dunedin via Lumsden and Gore. The first stage of the journey to Cromwell was completed in the greatest comfort. Travelling second class near the front of the train, we had tew fellow-passengers, and were fortunate enough to enjoy the hospitality or the guard, who handed ns a parcel or freshly-picked apricots that he had received at Clyde. This gift was highly appreciated by one of our companions, who had never tasted apricots fresh from the orchard. 1 commend this trip to all, especially those ot limited means. If possible do not travel in the rush of the holiday season. A little later makes for comfort, and enjoyment. The round trip 1 , if limited to one week, and everything paid f° r ) should cost less than £lO, including sight-seeing trips while at Queenstown. ,A fortnight’s stay would be proportionate!;’ cheaper. . . In a communication I had received from Cromwell previous to leaving Dunedin, I was told that there had been practically no rain in the Central during a period of four months, and that Recently the thermometer had registered on several occasions over 90deg in the shade. I was assured that if wo brought rain, with ns we should be rewarded as the bearers of good fortune. In facetious mood I promised to do my best, even at the risk of spoiling a holiday. As I write the rain is steadily falling, and the downpour has been almost continuous through the hours of the night. While in conversation with a group of residents at 9 p.m. I found them very pessimistic about the prospects of rain. An hour later it was falling steadily, so our coming to Cromwell synchronised with a much-needed downpour which has lasted lor at 'east twelve hours. So far I have not claimed my reward for this good fortune that has come to the district just as the stone fruit is ripening ami the other crops are wilting. A VISITOR FROM YUKON.

At. Middlcraarch a gentleman made inquiries about the height above sea level of the various stations. _ I soon discovered that he was a Canadian irom Alaska. He, with his wife, has been travelling through the dominion. In Alaska ho is connected with a fleet_ of boats that plies on the Yukon during the summer season. The river is navigable for a distance of 1,200 miles. For eight months the river trade is exceedingly busy, but during the winter, when the temperature often drops to 40deg below zero, all work is suspended. This°year his thoughts turned to New Zealand as the Alaskan winter approached. Now that his visit to our shores is almost completed, ho confesses that he has enjoyed every minute of his stay. Born in ’lnverness and a Canadian bv adoption, a man acquainted with wide spaces, snowy mountains, and changing scenery, one would not expect him to enthuse in the same manner that one would look lor from a city dweller. However, he confessed an honest '’ admiration for the ever-chang-ing scenes and variety of our landscape. and the climate he regarded as New Zealand’s greatest asset. He was cognisant of the present-day problems of our country, particularly in connection with migration. He was of the opinion that onr Government must do more than it is at present inclined to do if the migration problem is to bo satisfactorily settled. If people were required in the dominion, then the Government must father some scheme that would adequately settle these people so that no prospective settler, willing to do his best, should be left at a loose end. He also doubted the wisdom of encouraging migrants well past middle life to come to the dominion to start life afresh under strange and somewhat difficult conditions. Since he had been in New Zealand he had met middleaged men who had sacrificed good homes to come to onr land, only to find themselves unfitted for these new conditions. They were now intent upon returning home. It was interesting to hear these views expressed by one who, in the position of an outsider, is able to view the matter without prejudice. EN ROUTE TO CROMWELL. The railway journey 1o Central Otago is something quite different from any other trip. Tiiere is no bush scenery worth mentioning, and the towns passed on the way are almost negligible; but the rock scenery to Middlemarch and also that of the gorge between Clyde and Cromwell, to which may be added glimpses of the fruit orchards, as the trip draws to its close, make the journey anything but monotonous at this time of the year. Mr Felix M’Cartby’s farm after passing Wedderbnrn, claims the attention of the traveller as soon as he is made aware that it is regarded as the highest in altitude of large cultivated farms in the dominion. It stands about 2,000 ft above sea level. Then one’s interest is aroused at Otnrehua by discovering in a sylvan retreat about 300yds back from the railway line a foundry. It was rather astonishing to learn that in this comparatively isolated spot an iron work firm is carrying on a successful business, employing a traveller in the North Island and two travellers in the South Island. After passing Lauder the effects of the long-continued drought are very noticeable, but there is also, on Mr J. ‘Wilson’s farm at Omakau, clear evidence of the remarkable effects of irrigation. Wherever the water finds its way there are beautiful oases in a great desert of dry and sunburnt pasture. No wonder that the sheep from this farm hold such a high reputation. One can already see the day when, with further irrigationthese lands, which look so sterile in the heat of summer, will yield abundant pasturage, produce most luscious fruit, and supply Dunedin with many of the commodities of life. As we skirt the river bank between Alexandra and Clyde the land looks, impossible,_ until suddenly wo come upon, an irrigated patch of potatoes, and then it was clearly evident what the land could do if given sufficient water and attention. RABBITS AND FARMING. I was struck with the marvellous display of white clover all along the route from Middlemarch to Alexandra. .1 do not think that in any part of the dominion—and I have- travelled practically the whole of it—have I seen such a glorious carpet. The absence of apiaries was a great surprise, although I was assured that some of the farmers did go in for beekeeping. I can remember as a boy the talk that rabbits had mined the farms of Central Otago, and that sheep dropped and died in their tracks from want of feed. Those days are gone; the rabbit is well under control; the grasses haye recovered their hold upon the soil, and the sheep are now literally in clover. This is all to the good. Strange to.say that, while the fruitgrowing areas have had a long spell of dry weather, the central area of the railway route from Dunedin to Cromwell has been blessed with what a

gardener once called “ dripping weather.” The frequent showers throughout the summer have helped along the grass, clover, and crops, to the benefit of all concerned. (To be continued.)