THROUGH THE WONDERLAND OF WESTLAND

Evening Star, Issue 22032, 18 May 1935, Page 23

THROUGH THE WONDERLAND OF WESTLAND

BY GAR AND PLANE Far from the noise and bustle of the city one may spend an ideal holiday in fehe lovely province of Westland, with its- varying scenery of mountains, glaciers, and tracks through unspoiled bush. Travelling to these parts is made vei-y easy, for if the tourist wishes he may. fly from Hokitika in a very short time, using the up-to-clato air service that functions on the. West Coast: in fact, he may traverse, the whole length of Westland in a small part of one day. The motor drive, however, from Hokitika to Weheka is one of the glories of New Zealand scenery, winding ns it does through more than a hundred miles of the most luxuriant bush, each vista opening up more and more beauty to the eye. with snow-clad mountains in the distance one travels by the shores of lovely lakes, and sometimes by the seashore through what is one of the lovelist 6 ’roads in New Zealand. From time to time the service car is drawn up to allow the traveller to feast his eyes on fern banks and forest trees, with their trunks covered with soft mosses and creepers, set in a wealth of undergrowth that one sees nowhere but on the West Coast, On arrival at Waiho one co.mes suddenly on a large and up-to-date hotel, set in the heart of mountain and bush scenery flanked by the ageless Franz Josef glacier—a never-ending source of wonder and delight to the tourist. One meets hero travellers from all over the world, who have been attracted by the wonders of the West Coast of New Zealand by scenery such ae they can find nowhere else. Another seventeen miles of equally lovely, if not lovelier, bush road brings one to the Fox Glacier, different in its setting, but of fascinating beauty. It is to this region, far removed from railway and any hope of further facilities by land or sea for many a long day flint the air service has come as an unspeakable boon. From Waiho to Okuru, over 170 miles of country that in the past could only be negotiated on foot or by packhorse, the traveller is now taken by plane in a few hours. ‘ The aeroplane is indeed*the new pioneer of South Westland—it delivers the weekly mail to inaccessible stations, • and carries the stores. It takes the settler in a few hours to the city, a journey that formerly took many days along a track often inaccessible, for in these parts the rainfall is very heavy. It transplants the deerstalker and his camp equipment direct to the mountain slopes, and takes, the mountaineer over' the first long, tedious part of his journey. It will be the means of opening up a country of unsurpassed commercial possibilities —a land of cattle, sheep, timber, gold and other valuable minerals. It lias added another thrill for the tourist, for he can fly in a short halfhour over the glaciers and got an uninterrupted view of the snow-clad mountains of the main divide. The settlers of South Westland have hailed the aeroplane as their friend, some have their own private landing grounds, and as in the case of Mr A. Cron, at the Haast, are able to have their mails delivered right at their doors. After struggling for themselves for half a century in depressing isolation, the air service has opened to them 1 a new existence, and week by week the popular pilot (Captain -I. C. Mercer) is hailed with joy all along the route, as he skims through the air with his welcome news of tli| great outside world.