HAAST PASS ROAD

Evening Star, Issue 23564, 1 May 1940, Page 12

HAAST PASS ROAD

ITS SCOPE AND FUTURE USE MORE THAK SCENIC ROUTE WILL OPEN UP FARM LANDS Even though there should bo some curtailments in undertakings, as suggested by the Minister concerned (Hon. H. Semple), with the Haast Pass route possibly among their number, tho excellent progress that lias been made with the work since its commencement augurs well for a speedy completion when onec again the undertaking is tackled in real earnest. Several factors militate against rapid work on this new scenic highway, the chief of which arc the engineering difficulties to be met along the route and overcome, and (particularly on the western side of the range) the incessant rains at certain periods of the year. ' In days gone by hardy tourists, with a pack train and guide, were wont to make tho journey down tho coast from the Fox Glacier to the Haast River month, thence upstream to a point where the Bourke River joins tho Haast, and where is located a hut. Hero parties spent the night before undertaking the final stage of the journey over the Pass and down the Makarorn Valley to the boarding house at tho head of Lake AVanaka. In those days the trip was ono of interest and not a little hardship, but tho pleasures the journey brought easily counterbalanced the inconveniences. AVhen the road is completed fast cars will take the sightseer through river flat and mountain glen which once were the undisturbed haunt of deer and myriads of wild duck. Advancing civilisation will drive these farther and farther off the beaten track.

THE OLD SAWMILL.

In those now seemingly distant days there was a road of sorts part way up the valley from Makarora, through evergreen forest glades and open plains, to the site of an old sawmill. By the observant individual at the edge of these open plains (natural amphitheatres hemmed in by forest trees) could be seen the old decaying and lichencovered stumps of one-time mighty trees, for it was from such locations as these that valued timber was milled for use in the barren mining lands far down below, where the outlets from Wanaka and Hawea converge into the mighty Clutha. Some of these things will never ho seen by the tourist sitting at ease in his scurrying car. Even now they arc lost, for the new road, mark of man’s never-ceasing urge to push on, takes the direct route. Those lazy, winding curves are all gone, and with them the unexpected vistas they presented. Already the road is some four miles or more past the divide used by the ancient Maori, but rediscovered by von Haast. From where the road leaves the valley, however—that is, near the Fish River—no work of man could mar the splendour of the mighty mountain ramparts which for teons of time have stood silent guardians of the valley below.

BRIDGES AND BLUFFS.

Modern machinery, plus technical skill, has built a road into and round these ramparts, but there are yet many rivers to bo bridged. One of these bridges to span the Fish, is now under construction. Built of concrete, its centre is a single arch of 102 ft, and when completed it will constitute the portal to the great wonderland of Nature that lies beyond it. There are other similar bridges to construct, some bigger, some smaller, possibly the biggest being the one which must eventually be thrown across the Haast River near its outlet to the sea. Hero low-lying marshy land will necessitate high and lengthy approaches. There is much work to be done and many bluffs to be negotiated before that point is reached, however.

LAND FOR SETTLEMENT.

The task is no small one, but its cost (and its value) must not he measured alone in its service to tourists and pleasure seekers. The road over the greater part of its length will travel through mountainous country, but on the coastal flats of South Westland there is much valuable farming and timber land. Even now these same lands are peppered with pioneers, the advance guard fanners who are always to be found just one hop ahead of their fellows. However, the new road will give access to much of what lias hitherto been idle land. Much of it belongs to the Crown, who in turn will no doubt lease it out to the men who are prepared to bring this outpost of New Zealand into fuller production. When this is done, then no one will be able to say that the construction of this road linking east with west was not justified. ,