GOOD ROADS AND BAD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14895, 22 January 1912, Page 5

GOOD ROADS AND BAD.

MOTOR PARTY'S EXPERIENCES, TO WELLINGTON AND BACK. : A motor tour through the island from Auckland to Wellington and back has just been completed by Mr. M. C. Farrington, of Auckland. He had an ample share of tyre troubles and of the discomforts of -bad roads., but no mechanical troubles at all. . - • . '";••<: The journey south was commenced from Auckland on January 1 3, the party comprising, passengers in addition to Mr. Farrington, who drove his car throughout. It did not prosper at the. outset. Mishap and discomfort hastened upon the car in the first day, and their experiences and the delay persuaded his friends to leave Mr. Farrington to take the car through al(one, while they travelled to Wellington by train. The first check came when only 30 miles had been covered> a new tyre bursting. Then at Hamilton, the car ran into heavy .rain, and 12 miles from Tirau, it ran over some loose ends of ironmongery, and picked up three nails with one tyre. The engines were giving no trouble, but the car was in a cantankerous mood, and, for its next performance, selected a slippery clay patch to skid into a roadside ditch. Eventually Tirau was reached and a halt was made for repairs to tyres and to tempers. A Night in the Bush; The journey was resumed in pouring rain and a howling wind, in the midst of which the car plunged into mud to the axles. About 17 mile 3 from Rotorua, in the Mamaku bush, there is a hole in the road' which rarely fails to ensnare motor cars that attempt the passage. There is a tradition that repairs to this portion of the road would -not be welcome among residents in the neighbourhood, as there is a lucrative business derived from the towing of cars from the bog to a firmer roadway. In this instance, the car sank into the hole with it« radiator jammed upon an old tree stump. It was impossible for human strength to rescue it, and the party had to reconcile itself to the necessity of spending the night in the car. . Their only consolation was that wind and rain were beating directly upon the back of the car, so that hood and blinds kept them fairly dry. Next morning, a Maori and his horses were found at the end of a three mile tramp, and the car was hauled out of the hole and found to be uninjured. Rotorua was reached 1 without further mishap.. ■■■ From Rotorua to Wellington. There had been so much delay on the first day's stage, and some of its incidents had been so alarming, that Mr. Partington's friends declined to continue the journey by motor. He proceeded alone, and ran through to. Wellington without either tyre or mechanical troubles. The road from, Rotorua through. Taupo to Napier, though .considerably below the standard for good roads, was much better than he had expected. In view of the difficult grades which had to be encountered, it was, far superior to those nearer Auckland. From Napier, Mr. Farrington drove through the Manawatu gorge to Palmerston ana then on to Wellington, where he arrived : "on January 9. The, route was generally in excellent order, with a good gravel surface that permitted some fast runs. Mri ; Farrington took the road through Norsewood and found it inferior to that through Or-' mondville; otherwise he had no reason to complain of the roads. " While travelling south from Napier, he picked up the "only ' companion of Jtis journey, . giving *■ a lift; for 20 miles to a swagger. "And he was not much company," said Mr. Farrington, with a laugh. "The road was good and the car going pretty well, so he just sat tight and hung on looking scared, without a word, until he gasped his thanks in a monosyllable when I put him. down." A Treacherous Finger-post. , The return journey, with four passengers, was started on Tuesday, and a tyre having buret, three miles from Levin; the. spare wheel had to be used to reach Pali merston. There a new outfit of tyres'was fitted, and a splendid run was made to, within four miles of Hastings, where, in an effort to decipher the advice of a weatherworn finger-post, the car was backed into a ditch and settled down .carefully but inextricably. 7 The party spent tfie night at Hastinjs, and next morning, with the aids of jacks and another motor, recovered the car. That evening * Tarawera was reached.' On Thursday the party had another experience '_ of, the difficulties of motoring over bad roads, made continually worse by heavy, rain. Lunch'was taken at the Terraces Hotel, Taupo, and the day fin-" ished with, the' bogging of the car in a mud-hole and a night's rest at. Wairakei. The Last > Day's Journey.. A stretch of.bad roads had to be crossed between Wairakei and Atiamuri, but in no part of the journey were the roade sobad as between Ngaruawahia and Mercer, where the holes were so numerous that it was impossible to avoid them all. One stop to repair a puncture had to be made shortly after leaving Hamilton, and Auckland was reached a few minutes after midnight. , On the return journey, the car, with its passengers and their baggage, weighed over two tons. Mr. Partington's car is a 25-h.p. Daimler. Including the work done by it in Wellington, the car covered fully 1500 miles and Mr. Farrington was delighted with its splendid performance. The best run, so far as economy in power was concerned, was made between' Palmerston and >Waipawa, over 70 miles, which was accomplished with a consumption of only three, gallons of benzine.