HANMER HOT SPRINGS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2299, 24 March 1898, Page 61

HANMER HOT SPRINGS.

THE SOUTHERN ISLAND SANATORIUM AND PREMIER LOAFING GROUND OF NEW ZEALAND.

Bi Walter H. Pearson.

CHAPTER VI. The coach shortly after entering the southern boundary of the plain, bowling merrily along its level way, crosses in turn^the bads of the Hanmer and Perciv&l. The rirers themselves are nob formidable to face either as regards ! depth or width of water during the dry weather that usually prevails in summer ; but the wide expanses of shingle, through which <jhe liquid ribands presently chatter, sre a quiet bub significant testimony to their vigorous personidity when the melting snows of the mountains demand passage, via the Waiau, to the lap of the majestic mother of waters — ! the ccean ; while the great river itself raises | its proud crest, and. like a* huge and startled python, rolls its great ltsngth a^ong with a j power of sound that reverberates throughout the Champain. To ford any of these at tuch times would probably result in a sudden and forced emigration to distant and unknown climes, of genial or sultry temperature, according to previoua training. Shortly after crossing ths Percival the coach enters the grounds of the sjewly-builb sanatorium, deposits any pasepr>gei'3 desiring to stop there, and immediately proceeds on through the beauti-fully-kepb gardens in which the baths are situated to the cottage of the very competent caretakers, Mr and Mrs Rogers — where also is the posb effi ;e. Here there i 8 a longer stay ; for not only have mails to be delivered, but the passengers, with tbeir luggage, who are going to stop ab Mrs Lahmert's very comfortable house at Jack's Pass, a mile and a-haif distant, have bo be shifted on to her conveyances, of which there are two or three, according to requirements, waiting. These matters disposed of, the coach proceeds a very short distance to the fine large new hotel just erected by Mr Hoed on the plain ; and, having discharged cargo and passengers desiring to stay there, proceeds to Mr Hood's JoJlie'a Pass Hotel, some two miles and a-half distant from the baths, where the weary, .in the shape of the coach horses and drivers, are ab rest. And here I would again pay a justly merited tribute to the excellence in every particular of the coach service between Culverden and Hanmer. It has the merit par excellence of being cheap. The horses are not only well trained, but parfectly staunch ; while the drivers, besides being thoroughly competent, are the embodiment of good natured courtesy, which must be sorely taxed occasionally. ACCOMMODATION. First catch your hare, then cook it, remarked the admirable Mrs Glasse in her useful ccokery book, and to the invalid visitor to the Hanmer Springs, comfortable lodgings are the hare. These at the present time are neax'ly as plentiful, and quite as efficient, as the various recipes for manipulating the animal when caught, given by the above authoress. THE JACK'S PASS TEMPBBANCE HOTEL, As I stayed three weeks at this hotel I can speak of it with a knowledge clothed with experience. The house is, I believe, one of the first hotels in the district, and is situated some little distance off the plain proper, up a pretty, romantic gully of considerable widbh, down which a nice little stream Chatters over stony ways, In little sharps and trebles. Chatters, chatters, as it flows To join the brimming river. Shortly after leaving Mcs Lahmerb's house fche gully narrows and rises abruptly into the rather steep but picturesque pass known as Jack's, forming with the adjacent hills a beautiful and imposing background to the hotel,

I From the top of this pass, some 3000 odd feet, there is, I understand, a grand view to the north and south ; the latter commanding the Hanmer Plaic, with its interesting tracery of streims, and lar away, past (he gorge down the valley through which the Waiau speeds to pay its knightly devoir to the sea ; while looking northward the delighted eye ro^ms over miles of billowy country, through wh)ch meander tha Clarence and Achercn Rivers and many a smaller stresm— the two former rivers boing well stocked with troub furuish capital Qshirg, — and notes with admiration the many { loity mountains thab en their 5000 ft summits wear the ornate nightcaps of eternal snow. The pass is not in auy way difficult to achieve, but with modesb sf-lf-sacriiice I gave the precedence to youth. What wonderful assistants to the cultivation of ihe Christian attribute ot medesty are age and rheumatism — in climbing moun- j tains ! i The hotel has r.mple accommodation for 31 visitors — 19 first class and 12 second, the latter lhing in a dif connected building at the back, i with aepa.T£tb d uing room sn'i entrance. The i terms per week ere : £1 17s 6<J fiisfc class aiid | £1 5i second, or 63 aad Is dai'y ; and the charge js very reasonable. There is a large dining and j comfortable sit iug room, with a fine deep j verandah rbund fche front aud along tha south ! side of the house well stocked with tasy chairs, in which one can sit and enjoy the beautiful i air shaded from beam of sun. There is an s.Bphak tennis court and also a nice croquet ground surrounded with tall pines, in whose pleasant shadows, (fitting in easy chair with book in hand and gentle breezes playing through jour hair, you feel thab Ia the afternoon you have come into a land In which it seemed always afternoon, or, lying in himmoek suspended in bre«zehaunted shade between two goodly pines, with eyfia half closed, You muse and biood aad live again in memory With those old faces of our infancy— He»p'd over with a mound of grass, Two handtful of white dust &hut in an urn of brass. — and the bum of bses, the twtfcterof birds, and warble of dis'aut waters seem to chant a fitting rrquiem. There is no discordant element of buman voice, with its trivial nothingnesses, to disturb the peaceful harmonies of Nature. The sense of repose is so perfect that involuntarily jou whisper to yourself the beautiful lines ot Joachim Miller: A storied sweet stream is this River of Rest, The souls of all time keep its ultimate shore ; And journey you east or jourcey you wert, Unwilling or willing, sure-footed or sore, You surely will come to this River of Rest, This beautiful, beautiful River of Rest. To my iaste the Jack's Pass Temperanea Hotel is an ideal hou.«e to stay at, for while you bave ! every creature comforb reason may demand yon can achieve the inestimable inttllectual joy of being able to get away from your fellow ere stures when you so incline Can humanity desire mors ? it ii nob always given to man to obtain las much. I ran only say for myselt tuat it I has been the pleasantest, ino?fc comfortable i three weeks I have spent away from horns for ! many a day ; and as you approach ihe record of Methuselah you get more exegeant. The house has its drawback. What place I has cot its bubblejoek ? The lodger ab L&hcaert's will not be awakened by any amateur Sims Reeves informing him at 3 a m. in a gur- | gling falsetto with an occasional crack in it, thab "we won'fc go home till morning," &c. But life need not be a burthen to man, even though he be debarred from such pleasant pastime. For it possesses neither intellectual 1 merit, virtue of originality, nor grace of harmony in its delivery. Having looked upon the speaking countenance of the artist at 11 p m., ib would appear to you to be a work of supererogation to have the information emphasised by being awakened ab 3a m. One misses also the constant repetition of the idyll, "What'llyou 'aye to drink ? " Yes, the lodger ab the Jack's P&B3 Hotel must be content with bhe lilt of the ekylatk, the hum of bees, and softly sighing bretzes. uubroken by the human voice divine constantly demanding jou to liquor up. Ib is sad, bub one cannot have everything in tbis world, and ib does nob do to be an epicure. Mrs Lahmerb has had the misfortune bo lose the stalwart arm on which she had for many years leaned, but the Has faced the position bravely, and fought the battle of life with courage and address. The house is well ordered, thoroughly clean, and liberally Herv?<?, and the proprietress make 3 a capital and resourcsful hostess. Any demand that can be is readily supplied, with the smile of the cheerful giver rather than the surly gloom of a forced submission. One pleasant feature I noticed is that les domestiqucs, instead ot appearing in the early morning with heads like mops that had suffered from a severe ccurßfi of dissipation during the preceding nighfc, to ba fearfully and wonderfully arranged in the afternoon, as, frequently obtains in country house?, were neat and trim from start to finish. The mail is sent down daily iv its special bag, the duplicate key of which is kept at the Culverden Post Office to ensure safety, in time to catch the coach at tha batts ; aud twice a day (at 9.30 a.m. and 3 pm ) the lodgers are driven down in co'mfcrbable traps by uaveful and courteous drivers, free of change, and the drive furnishes a very agreeable break in the day. In the early morning, the distance being only a short mile and a-haif from the baths, a walk to them is a pleasurable and invigorating pastime. Indeed, the faculty recommend a walk back to your lodgings after having had your bath as tha besb and safest cooling off you can haye — i.e., if Mr Rheumatism will permit the pleasure.