A TALE OF SUCCESSFUL ENDEAVOUR.

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 65, 18 March 1936, Page 13

A TALE OF SUCCESSFUL ENDEAVOUR.

OHAU MOUNTAIN TRACK RE-OPENED. The upper valley of the Ohau River was the scene of a successful, though strenuous, campaign during the weekend, when the debris of the recent cyclonic storm which flattened the beautiful Tararua forests was removed from the Ohau Track, leaving the way once, more clear to the Ohau Hut. No one who has not visited the ranges recently can have any conception of the havoc wrought by the storm for whole hillsides were ruthlessly denuded of their sylvan growth by the force of the gale. Trees great and small wero brought down and with their burden of creepers and epiphytic growths piled in inextricable confusion along the track. To add to the difficulty of clearing a path the übiquitous supplejack created an almost hopeless entanglement over almost the whole area. In many places trampers had to proceed ahead to pick up auy traces of the old track and keep t’ 3 clearing parties on their course. In other parts the whole face of the river bank had slipped away, necessitating considerable detour, so that those accustomed to the old route will now find themselves breaking new ground here and there.

.Saturday afternoon saw the work begun by the stalwarts of the Tararua Tramping Club, and the game evening the combined camp was pitched on a convenient flat on the outskirts of the bush. Here representatives of the above club together with Hult Valley, Manawatu and Levin-AVaiopchu foregathered round the accustomed camp-fire and the usual community sing passed away several agreeable hours. The night proved rainy, and hopes sank to zero in the stout hearts of tho trampers as the downpour increased, accompanied by a wind veering to the cast. However, the now sodden bush saw an early invasion of determined workers armed with axes, slashers aud crosscut saws. These pioneers were early reinforced by a strong contingent from the Eauhine Tramping Club and a further representation of the local club, bringing the total to over eighty.

When more than half the track had been reclaimed, a morning bivouac was made at a convenient creek, the lady members of the various clubs having formed an advance guard aud made ample provision for the refreshment of their men friends.. Without this 'thoughtful co-operation of the ladies and the inspiration they undoubtedly offered to the brawny workers as the fair ones passed along the fast opening track with "nods, becks and wreathed smiles,” tho work could never have been accomplished in such record time,

if at all. One lady "'as observed to have a supply -of lire crackers, though whether she found it necessary to use them in the stimulation of any tardy worker has not been revealed. Shortly after mid-day the advance guard began to gather at the now ruined Ohau Hut,'where no time was lost in cross-cuttiug and removing the great tree trunks that lay across it. The whole achievement well oxcmpliflics the example of man's pertinacity over the blind forces of Nature, and though perhaps in a minor way, shows how lie rises superior to apparently irretrievable disaster. The Levin-Waiopcliu Club and indeed the whole Nature-loving community deeply appreciates the generous and whole-hearted way in which the outlying clubs have lent their assistance in reclaiming one of Levin's chief scenic assets. Might not this generous and ungrudging spirit serve as an inspiration to others? This latter thought was suggested by the sight of the early invasion of unclubablc trappers, making their way to the Hut immediately upon the re-opening of the track. May such as these prove unclubable no longer, but be prepared to pull their weight by subscribing to the funds of the little band that give unsparingly of their own efforts. It is more blessed to give than to receive, to do rather than to be always done for by others.