MOUNTAIN, LAKE AND FOREST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15563, 21 March 1914, Page 1 (Supplement)

MOUNTAIN, LAKE AND FOREST.

BY ISABEL MATJD PEACOCKS. At the head of Lake Wakatipu, where the swift Dart comes foaming down the valley between the mountains, to pour its snow-fed waters into the lake, is to be seen some of the loveliest and wildest scenery of Central Otago. This region is known as Paradise, and is twelve miles distant, by road, from Glenorchy, which is the village that marks the navigable limit of Wakatipu. Paradise is literally walled in by mountains, great, bluff Earnslaw with its single towering peak of snow, and Mount Alfred, thickly clothed with birch forest the long range_ of the Humboldte , with the Bonpland Glacier, and away beyond the Valley of the Dart, between more majestic mountains, Tange "behind range, the snowy Cosmos and the Three Sisters, and lesser peaks, all white and gleaming.-At Paradise, with its sylvan beauty and austere grandeur, one may pass an ideal holiday, forgetful of worldly stress and strife, and conscious only of the wonders and glories of Nature all round one.

• Arcadia,, the . .accommodation-house,., stands picturesquely on the rising ground, - above-' a gem-lite- sheet of .' water known as Diamond Lake. One is happy at Arcadia, as one should surely tie, as one could not fail to be in such cham-pagne-like air. Then there is "Godfrey" —I know no other name—the "Master of the Horse," who cares for and handles his team of five with 6uch right-excellent skill it is a pleasure to drive with him, so sleek and steady and willing are his beasts, his orders all given in a low, persuasive, almost, caressing tone, his hands on the reins so gentle, yet firm; no touch of the whip needed, his team answering his lightest . suggestion with instant obedience. Over the sandy boulderstrewn river-banks, in at the river-fords, breast-high in swirling water and out again, go the horses, willingly, gallantly, with jingling bits and clattering hoofs. There is "Jim," too, lately "frae Glesca," who will take you for a row on the lake for the mere pleasure of pleasing you, and not for your "siller bright," and accepts his "tip" with deprecating murmurs. "Jim" sets the fishing-nets in the lake over-night, and with what an appetite,' acquired in the keen mountain air, one sits down to a breakfast of fresh trout, trapped in "our own" pretty lake and carried, almost kicking, to the pan to ripe fruit and great bowls of clotted cream—delicious! to crisp golden-brown dough-nuts and ambrosial coffee, good, wholesome country fare, and as much as | one can eat, at that.

From the edge of Diamond Lake rises the great forest-clad slope of . Mount Alfred, with deep ravine and gorge, and foaming waterfalls in its dark recesses. Close to the lake-edge, a eilver-white sheet of water dashes down an abrupt face of mossed-green rock, and pours itself into the lake, in whose translucent depths lie clearly reflected bosky trees and snowy- peak. On the opposite side of the water is the road from Glenorchy to Paradise, which runs through a magnificent birch forest. The light filters gently down through the feathery green foliage, across the forest glades, falling on banks of fine ferns and mossy logs. Here and there a towering wall of sheer rock uprears itself, and down its stony front pours a silvery cascade of fresh, clear water, while singing creeks flash unexpectedly out of the greenery and go dancing away to the lake. The entrance to this beautiful drive is called, fantastically, " Heaven's Gate," and beside it lies a mossy stone in the shape of a flat tombstone which is known as "Peter's Tomb." Another plantation of birches, about half a-mile the far side of the lake, is named the "Garden of Eden,"-and a pleasant winding track runs, through it, with rustic bridges at intervals crossing a gushing silvery creek fringed with ferns.

From Paradise one can drive to the river-valleys of the Eees and the Routeburn, where the most magnificent scenery of rock and river, waterfall and mountain peaks may be seen. From opposite sides these streams come pouring down on to the blue breast of Wakatipu, swollen , with snow-waters and by scores of tributary creeks. The water is clear and cold as the snows from which it springs, and at the season of the melting of the snows the rivers often rise in a few hours to such heights that it is impossible to cross them, so swift, impetuous, and deep do they become. In winter, when the stately mountains draw their mantle of glistening whiteness about their broad shoulders and- far down their craggysides, and rime hangs on the forest trees in fantastic icicles, and a thin film of ice skins over the sylvan lake, the air is keen, clear, and exhilarating, and then is the time for such hardy and adventurous spirits as love the sunlit, frosty days, to walk and skate and climb the mountainsides. But for those who shrink from the stinging whips of the frost, summer is the time to visit this lovely region, where one can ramble through shady vistas of ancient trees, by dancing creeksand murmuring waterfalls, or row on the peaceful lake, where the little seaswallows skim restlessly hither and thither, or climb the mountain-side in summer gloamings, . when the show-fields are dyed with wondrous shades of purple L wd Was and .$&?% I°§& ,' ■