OTAGO CENTRAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2572, 1 July 1903, Page 87

OTAGO CENTRAL.

(Bt Oub Sfeciai Eepoetee.)

SCBXIC WEALTH OF THE INTERIOR.

WANAKA LAKE.

" Oh, beauty that will not let itself be told; Oh, grandeur pen mivy not portray" must surely have been spoken when the poet dreamed of magic lakes in an enchanted land, unconscious that in the lakes of Central Otago he would find a glorious realisation of hk picturesque imagery. Wanaka is always beautiful, and yet never co beautiful yesterday as to-day, for each hour discolors some new charm, some added glory unnoticed before, and whether in calm or storm it is a revelation of Nature's handiwork to delight all lovers of the beauty of mountain ard lake. As one approaches from the Cardrona side, what more superb opcc-taclc could be desired than that of noble A~piiing shrouded in its eternal suows? Perhaps it may be in spring, when tho \irgin white mantle has fallen down to the dark fringes of green in the Matukituki Valley and the dazzling purity above is only relieved by the darker shade? of the solid ice, or in late autumn, when the noble peak rises in tender azure, its miles ot snowfields open to the sureet tints that create coronas of opaline and sapphire, or in rhe blazing heat of noonday, when the mountain reposes in majestic and awe-inspiring somnolence — the king of the lakes, the Mattcrhorn oi the Southern Alps. No human foot lias ever couauered that noble brow, and no human feve discovered the panorama of Nature's glory from the summitApproaching through the gorge, with Mount Criffel, of gold fame, on the right, the load passes near the base of Mount lion. and then the first view of beautiful Wanaka is obtained, a noble expanse of the clearest water washing the feet pf stupendous mountains. The lake is about 35 miles m length, and averages three in width, its depth ia 1085 ft, and its elation above the sea level 928 ft. The stern, almost tragic grandeur of the great ranges is subdued to a tender and yet magnificent beauty by the beautiful forests, and the placid lake, the Kilianipy of Now- Zealand, mirrors tho wonderful scenery hi its own fair bosom. To oee Wanaka from Pembroke only, however, is to see Wakatipu from Kingston, the vieiv being only a foretaste of what lies beyond. One ip never much in a hurry at Wanaka ; if he is, he is foolish, for he will rise early, develop an enormous appetite an hour before breakfast is ready, and generally be in a shocking bud temper, which is not conducive to appreciation of scenic wonders, and is generally regarded by fellow passengers as an affliction of Allah. Rising, then, at a reasonable hour, breakfasting comfortably, aud boarding the stuarnor. the traveller will -oon be transported into a wonderland brush can never depict nor pen describe. The miste of early tuoruiug have risen with the shadows of the down, and creep around the gleaming heights in misty embrace, winding in amongst the dark ravines and rolling along the fringes af the «iows. while the whole wonderful scene is reproduced in the still olear waters below ; now tho sun leaps higher, and the silvery gleam on tho lake surfaco gives way to an opalescent glow, while that faint, intangible, indescribable, ultramarine haze, the despair of every artist and photographer and the delight of lovere of all glorious Fcenery, drops down or rises vp — one never knows whether it comes from earth or sky — until the whole face of Nature is veiled by this dainty presence. As the steamer ploughs jts way onward some noble mountains appoar. To the left ie Roy's Peak (5203 ft), and further on. across the valley of the Motutapu, are Treble Cone (6888 ft) and End Peak (6926 ft), and higher up again arc the lofty Buchanan Peaks, opposite Manuka Island; while i^ the right are Mount Mandt (4330 ft), and over towards Hawea, MoudA Gold and Mount Burke (4461 ft). Parsing Ste%en*on's Arm and Orescent Wand the beautiful Glendhu Bay appevs immediately to the left, and stretching right away buck to the mighty bosom of noble Aspiring (9960fi) k^-elf is the iovely valley of the Matukituki River, where several days may be weJl spent m sightseeing. The river winds along past the bases of Fi/g Peal:, Nig«"r Mount (6636 ft), and Lookout Hill (3373H) until it meets the bilvery beaches of Wanaka at Glendha Bay, »nd there is no moro lovely scenery in Otago than this. The valley, of course, is hevt viewed from the slopes of great Aspirin?, and fchen tho river will bo sen wiiuUug down through noble forpsts of birch, being joined later by the Mohitar-u ; and mountain, river, and forest combine 1o pr-c-ser.t a f-cene of ertraord-nary beauty. Then, too, Aspiring is- seen in all its iflory— a gigantic-, clear, cathedral-like sliaft towering p.svay into Heaven's blue, its slopes glittering with snou-fieWa and glaciers. Titan's Circus, said to be somewhat simi'ar to the Valley of Ten Thousand Rocks at Amoy, is another great attraction of this trip, and altogether the visitor may well spend at loa^t two days in the valley. If, lie is, ambitious he may at'empt the con<3u«*t of that pioud. regal peak; but !>e would not need to fear fnc-.ng death, and I doubt if any insurance conui-iay would i^uo a policy on lil, l:fe. From the l-ikr. beyond Gleudhu hny iho grandeur and brauly of the peaks cannot fail to appeal to the traveller at any season of the year, and especially when the summits are shrouded in snow — great, polpmn, giant piles, torn and rugged, form nrg a mighty amphitheatre, with the calm lake as an arena. Here battlement surmounts battlement, escarpment towers above escarpment, and long serrated ridges rise ewiftly to noble bayonet-bke surnmitp. Soon the steamer make* Manuka Inland, and it is advisable to step on shore and climb up to the top cf this Tugged little bit of land, for here is the extraordinary spectacle of a lake within a lake. The water of iho> lakolet 13 as clear and pellucid as that of it? great sister Wanaka, and while its surface is eomc distance above the level of Wanaka its depth k 6O great that no bottom has yet been sounded. One might imagine that in ihe days of the ancient pconlo, when the locks and the trees had hie and giant Uniwhas existed, this was the fountain spring of the kikes aud i1"i 1 " ~>'v of siraw legendary monster of thf> Cv i- tJ . From the highest point of the island the panorama opened up ■towards the bead of the lake is indeed superb To the left lay the steep but ever grand Buchanan Mountains, culminating in superb Mount Alta (7838 ft). with ita dazzling cro»vn of snow: then a littl« fuithcr north, and rising sbeor from the

lake, arc those splendid heights, the Twitf Peaks {5687 ft and 5435fl) t to the left of them the lofty Minarets {7189 ft), and away towards the head waters Mount Alberti (7063U) ; while to the right is Isthmus Peak <4752 ft). Further on, the Four Cones, then Sentinel Peak (5859 ft), and then th« Mlwrow Range, a tumbled mis of serrated peaks, ranging from 5956 ft to 7422ft— truly a noble panorama. Excepting the view of the nameless heights behind Milford. to bo obtained from the Lake Harris Saddle, there is no more 'splendid scenery in the alpine regions, of New Zealand than this. Here mountains, azure and green and white, tower to awful heights, long lines of jagged precipices and declivities — beside which the hideous arete of the Pius Beraina or the razor edges of the Jungfrau sink into insignificance — are ranged in endkes confusior., as left by the glaciers, those anode"t . .oulders of the world. Travelling amongst the Himalayas, the greatest mountains »i the world, one is not so astounded by the imposing height as upon viewing Aspiring and the upper Wanaka ranges, for the Himalayas aro approached so gradually that aU sense of their stupendous magnitude is lost, until one oomes to gome sudden deep ravine falling away below to immeasurable depth and eecs the golden eagle floating over tho rhododendron forests thousands of f«jfc down, and then gazes up to the eternal snows on Jakko or Tara Dcvi or above the Hurnai. Such an effect is necessary in the Himalayas to a realisation of their greafe magnitude, but if; Wanaka the magnificence comes upon the eye at onoe with something of a shock, and .lie more' one stays to wonder the grander grows that noble scene., Below, spreading in all directions, is th« calm, clear expanse of the lake, then rising majestically from the waters are the dark, forest-clad slopes, %nd above all the towering heights, snow-crowned, soaring away up. wards, thrones of Nature. Here are the daintiest delineations of Nature's brush aa well as her most magnificent soulptures, her most delicate tinting and mildest creations and her finest carving side by cide with her sternest destruction. Not all the architecture and painting of Giotto, the sculpture cf Michael Anete'o, the paintings of Perugino, Orcagna, Bottioelli, or Leonarda da "Vinci, the noble works of Arnolfo, the gold work oi Oellini. or the bap-reliefs of Nanni <ii Banco could equal the exquisite tinting, the

delicate lime tracery, or the magnificent carving of Nature here. The bounteous goddess has dealt out her gifts with a lavish hand. In the words of Renan, " Nature acts towards us as an Oriental potentate with Mamelukes under him, whom he employs for some mysterious purpose, but to whom he never snows himself in person," and in the midst of such opulent grandeur one is obliged to cry with Seneca, Natura auam te colimus inviti quoque. Where do the innumerable religions, each seeking to inculcate a different belief, stand in^ the presence of such sublime grandeur, and where are the petty differences of each and the worries of life in the midst of so stupendous and yet •o complete a revelation?

If it is desired, the trip may be extended to the great Makarora and Wilkin Rivers, at the head of the lake and the Makarora Park 'country is well worth a visit if for a view of the magnificent beech forests alone. The traveller may also land at the isthmus and acoend to the saddle, where a grand panoxamic view of Wanaka on one side and Hawea on the other may be obtained, but he cannot see all Wanaka in one day, nor yet in a> month, for that matter.

HAWEA LAKE.

From Pembroke, at the foot of Wanaka, it is a good morning's drive to Hawea Lake, crossing the Upper Clutha by the Alberttown punt. Hawea is a much smaller lake, being about 18 mil as long by five wide ; ite height is 134 ft above Wanaka, and its depth Tanes_from 900 ft to 1500 ft. It, however, possesses many distinct charms of its own, and the tourist who fancies he knows all about Hawea after a voyage over Wanaka will be sadly mistaken. In the early spring mornings or late autumnal evenings Hawea is unsurpassed for a quiet and yet dignified and grand beauty. It is rarely disturbed by winds, and the reflections mirrored in ita calm, clear bosom have a most beautiful effect. To the world-weary, a row out en the lake for a few miles at sunset will open lip a paradise, for here solitude is Nature's fbice; there is no harsh sound of busy life to mar the unbroken stillness, and the calm seems to a lonely worshipper at Nature's ehrine as not of earth. When those noble ranges are snow-capped and wreathed in faint, fleecy r oloud bars, and there is a burning calm on the atmosphere, what could be more lovely? The soft beauty of Como and Guarda or Maggiore is not to be compared for a moment to Hawea, while in the early dawn one may see the noble red deer come down to bathe in the still waters along the silver beaches. Then at dusk to row out beneath the shade of a precipitous slope i» to conjure up a weird, ghostly world with visions of the magical Samnites . chanting tbeir Sabellan incantations as the long grey cloud wraithes creep down and the darknew shrouds the valleys, and the faint bleat of a lonely sheep is magnified and transformed by echo into a thousand mysterious voices.

To journey up to the Head of the Lake on a calm day one must of necessity starb early, unless he wishes to camp out, and, indeed-, no better holiday could be spent than a- week under canvas at different points on the shores. Starting out, then, from the southern shore and rounding Breast Hill (5146 ft) Grandview, well named, appears away back in the Morven Hill? Range, and Mount Maude stands up nobly across " the lake, flanked by Mount Gold and Mount "Burke. A short distancs past Breast Hill is the Timaru Creek Valley, heavily wooded; rising back in graceful folds from the shore, higher and higher until meeting the clear snowline, is a magnificent birch forest, in spring lovely in all the daintiest of greens and in autumn glorified by those rich amber, brown and golden, brown and red-gold tints only birch can show. The valley is backed by noble Maungatika, a hoary-headed old glacierriven giant, and Dingle Mount (6062 ft). On .the left appears Isthmus Arm, a pretty lay set amidst lofty mountains, and then the western side is clothed with forest growth right to the water's edge. The. dark greens and terra verte of the bush set off the great Terrace Peak (6800 ft) to perfection, as that splendid old mountain rearo its snowy, gleaming crest into heaven's blue. On the right the Dingle Burn is £oon opened up, flanked by Little Arnold (6388 ft) on the north and Mounts Martha <6281 ft) and Melina (6311 ft) on the south. rough spurs are clad in dense forest growth, which materially adds to the majestic effect of the mountain?. Higher up, again, on the eastern side are Mount Arnold (6492 ft) and Leaning MountaiD (6808 ft), two giant peaks that appeal by their surpassing grandeur. Near the head waters is Hepwood Burn, rushing down through dense forest from the slopes of lofty Triplet Peak (7064 ft ); and then the boat reachen the great Hunter Valley, with its famous river of the same name. By no means should a journey up the wonderful Hunter Valley be missed, for here the traveller i 3 amidst the most glorious scenery of the Hawea system. Noble mountains crested with the pur© dazzling enows rear their jagged peaks amongst the clouds in magnificent contrast to the dark greens of the forest -growths, while the whole euperb scene is mirrored in the placid lake water. (From the Hunter Valley excursions may be made to Mount Huxley (8229 ft) and over to Lake Ohau, or down to the Ahuriri River to Omaiama.

In the years to come these splendid lakes and this superb scenery will be the resort of thousands, where now but one or two solitary wanderers come. As Carlyle said, Nature alone is antique, the oldest art • mushroom ; and the lovers of all that i* grand and beautiful in Nature will find their heart's desire at Hawea and WanaJ.a. It is true no poet has sung their glories, nor are they storied in classic legend, their strands are not stained with the life blood of patriots, and no fugitive king has found shelter amongst their forests; no Deucalion hag been saved from these waters to land on a Mount Parnassus, and there has been no beautiful priestess of Venus, as at fiestus, to induce a Leander to swim acros9 the icy waters ; but these legendary associa,; iions are not requisite, and the beautiful charm of solitude more than compensates. Instead, we have the quaint old stories of the ancient Maoris, who tell us the mountains speak to each other in the nighttime, and the tumbling waterfalls and heaving lake and whispering trees make !ove to each other, and toll wonderful stories of tlie old, old days b<?fore the advent of the pake-ha. What prettier association could ©no desire than this?

Then to the sportsmen," knights of the rod and (run, the country teems with game and the rivers with fith. In the quiet bays and the rivers the beautiful blue mountain duck and the grey and paradise duck" ha\i» their homes, and swains and pccFe haunt the inlets ■nd riv«r mouths Away up tho DinpV, the Hepwood, and tho Hunter Valley and t\cr

towards Lake Howe, and down to the Moryen Hills country the regal stags roam, and in the early dawn in the " roaring" season one has only to close his eyes to imagine sunset in the Nitrian desert, and the voioca of angry lions. Hitherto the seanio wealth of this country has been somewhat neglected, owing partly no doubt to the difficulty of access and the long, weary coach journeys. No reliable guide book has yet been issued, and the Government publication " New Zealand Tours and Excursions," recognised as a standard guide, is only misleading in its descriptions of the Hawea and Wanaka country, as its articles are not only curt and inadequate, but convey no idea of the wealth of Ecenio grandeur* of Aspiring, Wanaka, and Hawea. Mountains have been placed in altogether different poeitiens with a cheerful disregard of the geological formation of the country, and it is doubtful indeed if the compilers of the book ever saw the upper part of the lakes system. Perhaps in the ages to como better means of communication will be afforded, and this great wonderland opened up for the admiration of the world at large.