TRIP TO SANDY BAY AND MARAHAU.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXVII, Issue 294, 14 December 1893, Page 2

TRIP TO SANDY BAY AND MARAHAU.

At 7 o'clock on Saturday morning eleven of the choeen of Itiwaka set out for Marahau to play the return match with a team from Sandy Bay aud the surrounding district. Many and varied were the means of conveyance, boats, sulkies, horseß, &*j, being iv great requisition. Several of us managed to obtaia a large and comfortable boat belonging to a well known fisherman in the district, and also the services of the owner as pilot. We sailed from the eddy in the mouth of the Motueka, acd ran down before a fair breez°. The ooast in this locality is steep and rugged — rocks in many instances rising sheer out of the sea to the height of many feet. Th° fi pt pot of interest we pissed was the big rook at Kiiteri, famous aa a resort for sctanapper fishing. Between this and Tolliss Island theßboro was oovered with stunted busb, such as usually grows in a barren and rocky coil. When we arrived at Sandy Bay poiut we shipped our sail and lowered a moki net, to be picked up on our return. Aa we passed Sandy Bay we taw by the height ot tbe tide thit unless the rest had crossed some time before they mnst have found th« creek too deep to ford— and so it turned out, for they told us the water had covered the Beats of their conveyance*, and that it was due entirely to the skilful pilotage of one of thf ir rarty that they got through at all. Aa we walked from Bandy Bay we passed through a dense growth of manuka and fern, and had to irtip in order ta cross one of the creeks where the tide had arrived before us. However, at abont halfpast nine we arrived on the orioket field, and after partaking of a refresher all round the game commenced. Riwaka won tbe toss and eleoted to defend tho wickLts. The first two men S. Goodall and H. Byrne made eighteen rnns eaoh, the latter hitting very freely. The only others to get into doubie flgureß were Neve 18, and Franklyn 10. Tbe innings closed for 84, mosfc of the wickets having gme down before E. Askew's almost unplayable bowling. Marahau was not so sucoessrul, some of their bfst mcD, notably Askew, being disposed of at the beginning of the game without Eooring. Franklyn nnd M 3ook bowled steadily and well till the last wicket had fallen for 52. In the second innings things began to look blue for Riwaka, Wioket after wicket went down without Boore. But when Nevi took the wickets the face of things changed, and his partnership with Cook yielded more thsn forty rnns. Cook was not disposed of till his soore reached 35, while Neve's wioket fell for 15. These two and T. Cook were tbe only ones to get into double figures in the second innings, and the last wioket fell for 81. Marahau were more successful iv their seoond attempt, ohiefly owingjto tbe excellent batting of S. Baigent who played a splendid innings for 27. Williams, who mide 12 in both innings, wa9 the only other important soorer. 69 was the total Fcore . Lunch of an excellent quality was provided by the good people of Marahau, for which we were duly grateful, and, at the close of the match, the Riwaka skipper, Mr F. Neve thanked the team for their hospitality and hoped that the*y might soon have the pleasure of again seeing them in Riwaka. To this, the Marahau skipper, Mr E Askew, suitably replied in a few well chosen words. We then dispersed and hastened to our boat. We set sail and made for our moki net, but soon found, as a sou-wester was blowing, that if we did not take care we should make Astrolabe instead of Sandy Bay point, so we shipped sail and took to tbe oars, and a stiff pull of it we had to get shelter of the shorn again. However, when once there we soon found our float and began to haul in the net which, by its exceeding heaviness, caused our pilot to pronosticate sharks, and a further investigation showed his judgment to be correct, for the net contained nine, three of which were considerably over a hundredweight each . They had evidently been attracted by the moki, for wherever one of these unfortunate fish happened to be the net was considerably chewed up, and in one place an inch line was bittern through by the voracious monsters. On examination we found that we had eaughe equal numbers of sharks and moki, while the former had done damage to the neb that it would take some hours to repair. As a strong gale continued to blow off the land we determined to stay the night in Sandy Bay. Mr J. Woolf reoeived us with his well-known hospitality, and after wo had got well on to Sunday morning with, music and cards, we retired to the comfort- , able beds he provided and were Boon in the • arms of Morpheus. After breakfast we 1 went to the beach and found the gale still i too Btrong, so determined to walk along the . Sandy Bay track to Riwaka. Tbis in its ' own ragged way is one of the most beauti* , ful parts of the distriot, and to walk throngh * it early of a summer's morning is really enjoyable. The track iB cut in the Bide of a ravine, and from this point of vantage the traveller may see below the silver stream winding its way to the sea through the midst of lofty tree ferns, creeping lawyers, and the multitude of shrubs that find their home in the New Zealand busb. We arrived in Riwaka at ab ut ten o'olock on Sunday morniDg to receive the congratulations of our friends after one of the pleasantest daya we have ever spent. F. N,