A WINTER WALK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21254, 6 August 1932, Page 4 (Supplement)

A WINTER WALK

No. 1

Rainf Rain!! Rain!!! steady and persistent. Although only a heavy shower, the bush track is already a pathway of squelching leaves and bush mould, whilt> the branches of the trees shower big drops on us from their drenched foliage. The river beside us is a roaring torrent, splashing and foaming among its boulders, and rivulets are racing down tho banks to swell the flow. The mountains are wreathed in mist; clouds descending low have enveloped their summits. A waterfall shows against a precipitous rock face like a narrow, white veil . . . water is the predominating feature of our surroundings. With boots saturated and clothes flapping and clammy about our limbs wo wend our way hostelward down tho Bealey River, returning from a trip to the glacier. And now we have left the bush and are on the road—the old-time coaching road from Otira to Arthur's Pass. Conversation gradually comes to an end as our little party settles down to a steady gait on the home stretch of a couple of miles. Each to his or her own reflections, " A penny for them " would doubtless evoke anticipations of a hot meal ... a hot bath first if lucky enough to be one of the few to grab tho chanco at the one and only bathroom. Meantime . . .Water, above and below . . . one of the most commonplace elements in tho world. Wonderful, though, if you think of all that it doo3 and the magic of its various transformations . . . ice, snow, frost, mist, clouds, steam . . . and just water! llow nature exploits its infinite possibilities of use and ornament. To mankind and, indeed every living animal and plant, water is a vital part of their makeup. Rather surprising, too, that in an apple or a grape,, for instance, there's only about two per cent that isn't water! A handful of dried-np seeds will remain unchanged for years, but put them in tho ground so that moisture penetrates to the parched cells within, and they swell and life and growth are renewed. Nature uses water to produce many of her most, stupendous works and glorious sights. Tho towering cliffs of the rivetgorges are carved out . . . water and aeons of time. Vast rocks are gradually split asunder; water penetrates their

crevices, freezing and at the same time expanding with tremendous force till it splits them in pieces. Rivers carry on the work of whittling down the stone to boulders, gravel and sand. And then, too, the awesome grandeur of icebergs with their lofty pinnacles and sheer cleft faces, and glaciers with their snow-ficlds sparkling in the sunshine, and ice-chasms and caves of ethereal blue. How much tho beauty of mountain peaks is enhanced by their mantle of snow, while a snow-clad summit piercing a bank of clouds and seemingly afloat on their billowing white field is a scene of almost unearthly beauty. What charm and grandeur is displayed by moving water . . . the mountain torrents and cascades; impressive waterfalls; swiftly flowing river rapids; waves booming deeply as they break on the seashore. And steam! . . . but now we touch on tho strictly utilitarian aspect of water. Steam power has had a big share in building up our social and industrial world as wo know it to-day. Ocean travel and transport, railways, factories, electric lighting, heating and tramways. But by an interesting turn of events steam is now being ousted by water in another form . . . just water. Water from lakes and rivers with its quota of power taken from it and used to generate hydroelectric power which means so much in the city and country life of the modern world. " There's the Punch-bowl," says someone, breaking in on these reflections. " Not much further now!" A graceful fall, the Otira; the force that is now dissipating itself in cascades of spray and foaming eddies in the Punch-bowl at the foot was utilised years ago to produce powor for piercing the Alps to form the Otira tunnel; was conveyed through a pipe-line to turbines in which the power of its swift flow was abstracted. '1 he pipe-lino and machinery have long since been removed and the water once more leaps in sheer freedom over the precipice. And now the huts of Arthur's Pass are showing up, while in the distance is the hostel, and beyond, a plume of steam rising in tho misty air denotes a train at the station. Still raining, but ah ! that hot dinner — more than a meal—a luxury. First of all. though, a hot bath if we are lucky. Water again . . but hot this time! Such a commonplace element, yet ono of Nature's supremo wonder-workers! and man's universal servant! (To bo continued)