TOURING THE LIKES DISTRICT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10580, 29 January 1896, Page 3

TOURING THE LIKES DISTRICT.

Owing partly to the states having miscarried and >nrt!y to the brutal weatker which was prevailing and .seemed likely to continue, Dr Coughtrey's party returned to town a week earlier than had been planned, the doctor leaving bis eon to bring his ' homes and traps from Riversdale in the VTaimea Plains. While in the Te Anau and Manapouri diati-iot the party had an' unusual excursion, and secured grand views of both ' lakes ' from a point little known to ordinary tourists. Leaving Mossburn, which they had retched by the . Five Rivers Plain and by fording tie Oreti, they drove through the Centre Hill eet&te along the Gorge road to the Key of the Plains,'on the banks of the Mararoa.f When lunch had been partaken of they then proceeded to the lelt of tho beaten trai-k of ttie: coach road, and camped for the nighb at the base of tbe snowclad TakitlmUs. A good night's rest having bacn enjoyed »nd an early .breakfast effected, the party (fix in all) wended their way through a beautiful gully to the, Tskitimu Bush, ■-.-■•. Here a track was found which led to a bare *imr of the highest peak, and in the bußh track the: refreshing' coolness of the shade vied with the various flowers of the trees hi makiug this portion1' of the journey charming. Leavicg1 the hc.ri> spur thty then descended a deep gully, and here left their cooking billies and sll other impedimenta for the olimb in front of them.- Bit-by bit they got to the ridge of tho main spur of ths mountain, and then it became a matter of picking their steps—now dodging' some huge rocks »nd precipices, or at other placets gaining the best footholds possible on loose morainio debris, which, when disturbed, went tumbling over cliffs into a huge ravine below. ' Slowly, however, they gained higher and higher vantage points, and had nearly jeaohed the extreme top when a cap of impenetrable, mist elowly wreathed if self around the zriountairi piunoele, and rendered further progress ■ ioadviir.me. But there was much to be seen from the 5200 ft they bad ascended, and their labours werempsi amply rewarded, for, to the west, and spread out beneath and before them; lay lovely ifinnv, pouri with its numerous islahdS veiled in » nebwork of translucent mist, -through the interstices of which the aua sent glorious sheen on lake end mountain slope, and to the northwest, LakeTe Anau with some of its islands and its more forbidding features';- and surrounding and separating these two lakes, arid towering: well, up between them and thp West Coatt Soinds, werß noble > moiin-^ tains in endless profusion, of varied contour, and of .divere hues. Linking the t*o lakes together,; like a liroad, sinuous, silvery strand, was thef River Waiau, and nearer still the Mararoa .and its numerous tributary feeders,, while closer were tho other peak? of the Ttakitinluß, = intersected by the wooded gullies and ravines and their merrily-gurgling, purling streams. . ■ ■• ..-■:;'■■•.-•'

The .scene; before the patty was exceedingly beautiful and impressively grand, ujost^of them voting it farnch beyond' that obtained from Ben Lomond (on Lake Wak&tipn), or that from th* highest peak of the Crown R»nge.(separat< ing the Cardrooß from the Arrow, the Shotover, aud tho Clutha). They were told that had the mist not prevented them reaching the extreme top, they could have seen—to the south—Winton, Nightcaps, and even glimpfcs of luvercargill,' the Bluff,; .and Stewart Wand. ' ■ : .

/ The advantage oE this point iat .sight-seeing in those parts is its great accessibility—a point of importance to those whose time is limited.' It can readily bii reached via .MoasburrJ, to which train and coaches run.! !;Once there, either ,the ordinary coach or a hired,conveyance, will within four hours easily convey the tourist ,to the Key of the Plains Hotel, which is within five miles of the 'base of the. Takitinm Range. The doctor"was" indebted tp Mr :Beere, jun., of the Bailway^otit .Messburn,; for'the - bint of the grand view to.be obtained from this peak,: and for directionsas to the exact route. •••:■

The terraces at the base of the Takitimns abound in Maori ovens and other; signs that the Maoris used this lovely spot-as a camping ground on their way to the lakes and the southern camping grounds, and ; thcre are nutnerom traces on toe adjacent plains in the shape of moa bbnes to show that these winglesH birds once frequented these partg. Th« greatest difficulty experienced by the doctor in touring the country and camping oaj; us far as was practicable was in obtaining good feed for his horseß and ordinary bread for hiajno^lß. And he found, especially when the roads led among tnSßdcky grass, owing to the utter absence of ■ finger posts or guides, great difficulty in choosiDg the proper traok. • -, . > ■ ;•-..': Speaking of the description, given in :our Saturday's issue",o{ the phenomenon ia *he Clinton Valley between .Pompolona and Mm» taro.the doctor sayg the state-of. affairs ftuscribßd there is exactly what. may be seen yet intheParawa Gorge between Athol and Five, Bivero, where au immense waterspout played great havoc with" the road anS thfeadjncent country, and it is more probable that a waterspout is the true came of the Clinton Wreckage than any upheaval. ' j