HAMILTON TO TAUPO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18837, 11 October 1924, Page 12 (Supplement)

HAMILTON TO TAUPO.

• 10&-MILE MOTOR SERVICE.

A Hamilton firm has inaagurated a 100mile motor-car service betwaep Hamilton and Taupo. At present the service iu being run on three days a week, leaving Hamilton on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, roturning the following days. Should business warrant it, the Bervico will be run daily. The second run was made last Saturday, the car being driven by Mr. N. D. Robertson. After passing through Cambridge, a stop was made at Horahora, where the extensions to the hydro-electric works were inspected. After a Btay of 20 minutes, the trip was continued to Arapuni, where a stop of half an hour was made to give tho passengers an opportunity of viewing tho Arapuni Gorgo, the site of the hydro-electric works that are to be constructed at this spot, the bridge and the township building operations that are in progress. A great deal of work has been done in the last six weeks. Tho bridge across the old river bed OB the west side of the Waikato River and Arapuni Gorge is nearly completed. Accommodation for hundreds of men has been prepared, and a number of married men's cottages have been built. The contractors' headquarters have been completed, and are occupied, and the echoolhouse is nearly completed, From Arapuni to Putaruru is a short run. Lunch was obtained here,, and the journey wa3 continued, via Lichfield and Tokoroii, to Atiamuri, in time for afternoon tea. The journey was then continued through Oruanui to Wairakei, which was reached at the exact scheduled time, 5 o'clock. Several of the passengers stopoed at Wairakei, and the car went on to the terminus at Taupo, six miles away. While at Wairakei the visitors were given an opportunity of enjoying the hot baths, and of visiting Wairakei Valley, the Blowhole, and of seeing the Huka Falls at night. Tho falls were brilliantly illuminated with a powerful electrical searchlight or projector, fitted with coloured glass slides. The effect w<*;» wonderful. The return journey was made the next day. Jjeaving Wairakei at 10 o'clock, the trip was mads to Hamilton by 5.40 p.m., after five hours and tea minutes travelling time. The road from Hamilton to Taupo, with the exception of several short stretches, was in excellent order. The first piece of road that offered any difficulty was that lying between Horahora ant' Arapuni. The surface is of gravelly and sandy formation, and is [airly bumpy. The work of grading and improving the surface is shortly to be taken in hand, and as there is excellent material available on the rood and near at hand, there should be no difficulty in making it a first-clas3 highway. An agreeable surprise was met with between Arapuni and Putaruru. A few weeks ago this road was being laid down in metaL It was then \-ery rough. Substantial layers of top-dressing have since been deposited, und the. heavy traffic to which the road has been subjected has given aD 6vea, hard surface, which makes motoring aio;.g it a pleasure. A different class of road was encountered between Putaruru and Lichfield. The clayey nature of the surface had not successfully withstood the rain and the, traffic, and chains had to be used to negotiate the stretch of five miles. This is the worst piece of road on the whole trip. It can be avoided, however, by an alternative route, which, though a mila or so longer, can be traversed in half the time. This route was taken on the way back, and except for one or two potholes near the junction of the Waotu-Arapuni road, was quite satisfactory. In fineweather the main Putaruru-Liclifield road is expected to bo quite passable. From Lichfield to miles beyond Tokoroa a .very fine pumice road is passed, and good time can be made in driving over it. The Atiamuri deviation, constructed by the Public Works Department, has made all the difference to the Putarunz-Taupo route. It is level and well graded. The department has now made an excellent job of it. The hill road, to the south of Atiamuri. is fairly bumpy. It has been well fascined, and it was negotiated without the use of chains, and offered no difficulty to a powerful car. From Oruanui to Wairakei the road was in first-rate order. While much of the land south of Putarun: was barren and uninteresting, the bush-clad hills and the glimpses of the Waikato River, from Atiamnri southward, were picturesque and delightful. Further north the verdant Jann lands of the Waikato, the beautiful towus of Hamilton and Cambridge, the Horahora Ranids, and the Arapuni Gorge were sights worth going a long way to see. There is no telephone on this "road between Tokoroa, in the north, and Oruanui, in the south, a distance of 31 miles.