MOUNTAIN AND RIVER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22709, 23 October 1935, Page 4

MOUNTAIN AND RIVER

TEN MILES OF GRANDEUR PUSHING ON TOWARDS MILFORD SOUND Leaving behind the beauties of sparkling lakes with their bush-clad shores, the Te Anau-Milford Sound highway is now pushing on to its objective through rugged grandeur of the alpine masses which provide the rushing, turbulent Hollyford River with its passage to the Pacific Ocean at Martin's Bay. Over the divide from Lake Fergus and Lake Gunn the way winds down into the tree-clad valley, and, following the course of the river beneath the lowering shadow of Mount Christina, with its accompanying peaks, past Mount Park, Students' Peak and Mount Belle to its last struggle through rocks and scrub to the foot of Mount Talbot, which darkens 8210 feet of the blue vault of heaven, it turns sharply to the left to stop abruptly where work is just being commenced on the mile-long tunnel that will give access to the Cleddau Valley and Milford Sound.

ON THE HIGHWAY MORNING AND EVENING CHANGING SIGHTS AND SOUNDS It is entirely new country which the Milford road is now traversing, different In everything save beauty from the now familiar avenues and vis>tas of the Eglinton Valley. The Hollyford Valley has an appeal all its own and the route as already laid down explores its attractions in the most thorough fashion. The road comes sharply up the steep curve of the hills that form the Divide, pushing its way through thinning beech woods as though ip a hurry to leave behind it the shadows of deep forests and the shimmering expanses of gem-like lake. Up and on it goes, swerving aside only to avoid the great spurs of rock shoulder that sprawl across its path and seem to frown upon its impulsive eagerness. The crest of the Divide reached, it moves gently along the ridge, contented for a time with its victory, and then tiring of the heights it dips sharply down through huge cuttings and past sheer faces into the Hollyford Valley proper. Here it encounters once again deep bush shadows, accompanied this time by the cool water splashes of the river's edge. It is impossible not to feel at once the intoxication of towering heights and the splendour of long vistas which always end abruptly in the grim rocky facades of steep mountain piles. Everywhere in the valley there is a living quietness and a harmony of pleasant subdued tones that seem to have taken their dominant colour from the blue of the sky above, draping it over mountain and stream until the whole face of the countryside glows with a vigorous uncontrolled beauty. BY MORNING SUNLIGHT . Early morning, before the dew. , has gone from the mossy banka and shivering leaves, is a definite experience in this delightful region. There is a genuine thrill in speeding along the gravelled surface of the road towards lofty Talbot through deep little dells where the mists and vapours of .the passing nights still linger. The mountain slopes lie interlocked like the fingers of two hands, and in the morning light they still sleep grey and sombre as though the sunlight were all that was needed to wake their dormant beauty. On their slopes the trees and bushes smoulder with latent fire and the dew pricks out Bilver webs of gossamer globules of light which flash and sparkle in the light of the rising sun. A handful of native pigeons flap into the wind overhead and an impudent kaka, perched on the top of a rock spur, looks round for mischief. Across the river a hawk lifts himself aloft and drifts like a plume of dark smoke across the sky to hunt for tlfe, small birds who fill the morning with their cluttering and song. It is all a sombre oil painting wrapped in the dust of departed night. The sun—a great shaft of light over the mountains—plays like a giant searchlight over sky and hills, brightening long slopes and bare crags, rushing waters and swaying trees with the charm of a new day. Along the banks of the river and low on the mountain sides the forest flings colour about until the landscape blazes with changing greens. The beeches extend their new leaves towards the dark moss banks and filter the light lingeringly through their fluttering fingers so that splashes of it cling and glitter in the foliage until the noon is high and the sun bathes everything. THROUGH THE SHADOWS OF NIGHT And then return through the darkness of night. It is another experience. '£he twin beams of the headlights bore into the night so that the blackness leaps to life in a succession of kinematographic scenes, quick and brilliant, and of a kind that ordinary highways cannot produce. Trees powdered with light bow before the rushing car like tall coiffurcd ladies and wave their wide shadowy skirts over the edge of the road as they flash by. The great white rocks stand in steady pose and every now and then a hutment starts across the screen in canvassed wonder, with its little darkened doorway staring as the intruder goes by. The night air fills the lungs with a wine compressed of all the sweetness of the countryside around. The scent of jtree and shrub on wooded sideling, the evening flush on the whistling wing of a pigeon, the richness of the snow-capped blackness of eternal mountains and the 6parkle of starshine in the dark pools which gather even on the turbulent bosom of the Hollyford River—these are the tilings that evening brings in the valley. A defiantly domestic touch is given to such soaring grandeur by the succession of encampments in which the tiny dwellings dance and writhe beneath the lights. Above all is a rushing starJit nothingness of sky, and the only sound the hum of the engine and the unceasing splash and tumble of the river over its boulder-strewn bed.

STEADY PROGRESS HOLLYFORD VALLEY SECTOR ANOTHER YEAR'S WORK A PERFECT MOTOR ROAD No effort is being spared to push on the work of construction in the Hollyford Valley with all possible speed, a fact which is exemplified by the scattered nature of the settlements in which the 230 men employed on the road live. There are camps at the Divide, at the 53 mile peg and others at the Upper Forks, where the Homer River and the Hollyford River join, just about at th 9 G 3 mile peg. And between at regular intervals other and larger camps arc to be found, including the Headquarters Camp about halfway up the valley,where the .Hollyford Post and Telegraph Office has been established, another at the Falls, and others at Windfall, Cirque's, Monkey Flat Creek, the Lower Forks. These encampments cover a distance of over ten miles and have had the effect of decentralising the life of the community very noticeably. A good motor road has been provided as far as the Headquarters Camp, about 57 miles from Te Anau, and from there on there is a fair metalled track which provides safe and comparatively easy going for cars with a normally good clearance. There are very few permanent bridges in the valley as yet, but all the temporary structures have been reliably built and have been provided for the most part with easily negotiated access. In one or two instances special care in approaching and leaving these log bridges is necessary, more especially as they do not carry warning n'otices. The fact, however, that heavily laden departmental lorries are using them all day should convince holiday-making motorists that their very much lighter vehicles are perfectly safe. At present Monkey Creek Flat is the terminal point of the road for ordinary traffic. In fact, strictly speaking, tha Headquarters Camp is as far as tourists are allowed to go, although special permission to proceed further is not difficult to obtain. The danger of meeting heavy traffice at awkward corners, however, makes it necessary for the department to take every possible precaution. From Monkey Flat the road winds across un dulating boulder strewn country for about three miles until it reaches the site of the tunnel in the shade of the Homer Saddle. Gangs are at present engaged on this section in harrying through a metalled carriage way of the kind that traverses the top end of the valley in the hope that holiday traffic this year will be able to approach to within a quarter of an hour's easy walk of the tunnel. Any traffic passing between Monkey Creek and the top of the Flat just now is' negotiated with a huge caterpillar tractor which makes Beveral trips a day through deep mud and scattered rock, moving plant and transporting supplies of a heavy nature. Those who have not visited the road for some time will immediately be struck by the evidence of inci cased activity which is represented by the greatly increased plant. Every available form of mechanised plant has been pressed into service lately, and the result has been excellent progress, in spite of severe climatic handicaps. The fleet of departmental motor lorries has been supplemented by the vehicles of contracting firms which are engaged carting gravel and other spoil, and tractors and sledge? do the bulk of the very hard work. The heavy work of construction has now been completed, and with little bush and practically no steep grades or heavy rock cutting to be done, steady headway is being made. The rock blastings gangs still find plenty to do with drill and explosives, however, as the route the road must follow is strewn with huge boulders many tons in weight Which must be shattered by blasting hefore they can be removed. Right at the top of the Hollyford Valley, beyond where it joins the valley of the Homer River, a start its being made on the operation which, perhaps more than any other, will attract the keen interest of visitors during the present summer. This is the herculean

task of piercing the mass of solid rock which forms the Homer Saddle and at present separates the ribbon of road from its objective, Mil ford Sound. This huge contract lias not yet properly begun, (lie tunnelling gang being still engaged clearing away the scree that has banked up on the mountain side. Drilling and blasting proper will shortly be commenced, however, but it has been estimated that two years and three months will pass before access will be given to the Cleddau Valley down which the highway must run for several miles before it reaches the shores of Mil ford Sound. It is thought in some quarters that the estimate is on the optimistic side, and.that more than 27 months will elapse before the mountain is pierced. The completion of the road as far as the tunnel is expected to occupy another 12 months. A start has been made in the lower valley with the erection of permanent concrete bridges and it can well be imagined, considering the number of rivulets, creeks and cascades that have to be spanned that this work will keep even the expert concreting gangs busy for a good 12 months. One of the largest structures of the kind will have to be flung across the falls, about 55 miles from Te Anau. These falls represent one of the scenic gems of the valley. They plunge and roar down under the road in three gigantic leaps, issuing, it would seem, from the very trees themselves, to be lost in the huge boulders and foaming waters of the Hollyford River. The temporary log bridge which at present spans the course of the falls has been built so close to the cataracting waters that the tourist can feel the cold spray on his face and has the idea that he has but to stretch out his hand to touch their clear, sparkling brightness. One or two large bridges will also be required at Monkey Creek, where both the Hollyford and the creek itself run deep and fast. But, in addition to these, there are a large number of gulches and waterways which frequently carry not a drop of water that will also have to be bridged. Only at certain times of the year, during thaws and in rainy weather, will the reason for solid concrete erections be apparent, but at- such times the stoutest wooden structures would be severely tested. j The impression of an honestly-built, well-formed and perfectly safe motor j road that has been gained by motorists with respect to the 50-mile run from , Te Anau to Cascade Creek has been amply confirmed during the past couple of years. Traffic represented by thousands upon thousands of motor cars,

buses, charabancs and heavy lorries has failed to make any impression on the excellent surface, • and the absence of accident, even where the character of ! i the country makes it impossible to avoid hazards, may be regarded as a tribute i to the skill and the painstaking .work i of the construction engineer (Mr S. ' Walker) and his staff of surveyors and road constructors. The perfectly banked 1 corners and bends, the admirably graded 1

slopes and the well-drained character of the road, which does not know what surface water is despite the fact that sonic of the heaviest rains in the South Island fall in this valley, may be described as models of engineering which appear to have been strikingly duplicated on the Hollyford Valley sector, where even more construction difficulties have been encountered than on the route through the bush.