A TRIP TO MARUIA SPRINGS.

Grey River Argus, Volume 07, 7 January 1908, Page 4

A TRIP TO MARUIA SPRINGS.

A ROUGH JOURNEY. (The Fress.) Three gentlemen from thb.city have been spending their holidays in the north-western . portion of Canterbury} and made' a trip to the Maruia Hot Springs. lOne of the party, who has returned to town gave a representative of this journal some interesting details of their journey. The party left Hanmer on .Christmas Eve, and went via St. James's Station to Adia Station, which later -they made their headquarters. . Fourteen -miles from Hanmer they travelled by road, but' after that their journey was by bridle i^ck. Having obtained parti- . culars regard ng the route to the Hot Springs, and taking one of the station hands to act .as. guide, they started on what proved to .b c a rather rough

\\ Of track $fie|« »er# only races met vvkh here and there, but one of [the party by means of a compass was •successful in piloting the .party to the desired goal. En route they had several experiences. They encountered rain shortly .after they had started, and the party, their provisions got soaked. Lunch consisted of tinned salmon on damp bTead. -The pack horse had a narrow escape from coming :to an untimely end. He slipped •whilst ascending the abrupt side of a small ravine, and turned a couple of somersaults before .his future down ward progress was stopped by a stump Some parts of tjie route were so steep that the travellers had to dismoiunt and • ascend like monkeys, by their hands and feet, though' the station 1 horses, being used to such rough j country, negotiated it with less difficulty. In Cannibal Gorge they met with s a shingle slip which completely blocked the track. . With the aid of sticks they managed to make .a pas.'sage: over which the horses were a/ole to go. On the other side. of the slip they ; found an old shovel— evidently left by others *who had had similar ■ difficulties to. contend ..with— and they

<cogitated,,on: . jybe,unkindness., of . Fate.f that had not arranged that this useful implement should have been left, at the otlher side of tihe slip. Further on they came to a place where the road had been washed away, .ancf-here-they had to build up the track : 30, that they could pas s over. They duly; arrived .at the Hot Springs,; wet and tired, and lost no: tirr.e in making themselves comfortable in the huts pro vided for visitors by. the Inangahua County Council. Th e ire»t day was fine and warm, and the party paraded in pyjamas during the morning. They indulged in a bath, conveying the water from the hot springs in buckets to the wooden 'baths provided!" They: had also to ..bring water from the rver to mix with the spring water," which was too hot to be .used without being copied. An unusual experience was that of having thei.r "blankets fly-iblown At tho Springs they found two blankets in the same manner as the house fly takes to meat. As can be imagined, the party were not anxious for a repetition of this particular experience. At the Springs they found two gentlemen . who had come from Reefton. One proved to one of those who had -made the track to the .Springs. He .narrated that as a boy ot six he had guided the first of the gold-dig-gers who used the Cannibal Gorge route to the West Coast rushes, and, after seeing them- through the gorge, ir«tiirned by himself. ■From the visitors' book at the Springs it appeared that no people from • had -visited the ' Springs for about two • years. As a tourist <resorfc the member of the party who gave the reporter this informaion formed a very high opinion of the- route traversed, and

expressed the opinion that for magnificent scenery, Cannibal Gorge excels either'the Otira Gorge or the Manawatu{ Gorge. 'He was of opinion, arid the party recorded the same view in the visitors'^book^'-tFat the track should be put in order! If the scenic ibeauty of the trip were better known, he thought that very many would visit: the Spring-s. Th~ c return Journey to Ada Station was accomplished ujnder more pleasant circumstances, ,and tlie party view with mixed feelings some of the dangerous places that. 'they negotiated in the dark" on their' outward passage. From -Ada Station they made several excursions to places. of interest, such at aLke Gyan, and Cow Creek. In the vicinity of Lake Tennyson they came on the hut of a "fabbi'ter, who boasts of living in the habitation built on the highest altitude in the Dominion. It stands some 4200 ft above sea level, but according to ' the statements of surveyors he holdis the recortT only by about two feet, as tlie Tar nd ale homestead is not much lower than the .rabbiter's lonely hut. The rabbi ter was away from hime on the occasion that the party called, but they found the door open, and" made tHemselves at home and boiled the billy. Lake Gyen is a body oi water that many of the residents of this city would like to be albl c to .reach easily in winteit time, when it is frozen over, and provides excellent 'skating. At Cow Creek the party were greatly interested in the Springs, which are slowly building up a replica of the one-time •wondrous white and pink terraces that were so great an attraction of Lake {Ro'tomahiana, prior to the eruption of Tarawera in 1886.