A CYCLING TOUR

Otago Witness, Issue 2934, 8 June 1910, Page 71

A CYCLING TOUR

THROUGH THP: SOUTH ISLAND AND TO MOUNT COOK..

By Finlat Anderson,

(Concluded.)

'■■ Leaving Nelson I cycled to Riwaka. a beautiful fruit, vegetable, and hop-growing district, 35 miles west of Nelson. Staying there for five weeks, I then started off aeai-n one morning for Picton (110 miles). Before reaching Havelock I cycled up a long winding hill, which 1 understand to be six miles in length. The descent on the other side is about three miles down to Wangamoa. A few miles farther on. is another big hill, which descends into the Eai Vallev. where beautiful bush scenery is also to be met with. The roads all the way to Havelock are very good for cycling. "For about five miles from Havelock the road is very bad. Then for seven miles there is a very good road to the Grove. From the Grove to Picton—l2 miles—is a bridle track quite unfit for cycling, except in a few places. There are grooves to be met with, also reeks, water-races, and bogs. Darkness came on about 5.35. Sometimes I would ride through the bush in very dark places. At one place, when going along quietly, my front wheel went oyer the «dg© of a bank, sending me sprawling amongst a lot of bracken. Picking myself up and going along a short' distance I encountered a weird spectacle —myriads of glow worms studded a bank and fern tree trunks like so many stars in the heavens, and the cry of the nocturnal morepork produced a scene strange and unique. I was cycling along steadily at one place when the front wheel suddenly dropped into a gutter or ditch, thus sending me again flyinsr over the handlebars. A little farther on I came across two big trees lying across the track,, but after a little difficulty I got through them all right. At last I reached Picton. quite fit and well, at 7.20, and at 10.30 I sailed by the Pateena for Wellington. - • After staying in Wellington for a couple of days I s-ailed for Lyttelton by the. Mararoa. " On 'arriving. at the_ latter port I cycled over to Christchurch, spending the rest of the day there. I _ started next morning for Temuka—loo miles. It was a dull, unpleasant morning, and from. Rolleston onward I pedalled through, showers of rain. Approaching A&hburtoa the roads were sopping, and so was 1. Going over the Maronan Plains I cycled most o'f the way over grass, to avoid a. muddy road. To increase the discomfiture of the ride I was caught in showers. When about three parts over the distance I began to feel the pangs of hunger, and on reaching Rangitata I replenished, the food bag attached to my cycle. Proceeding on my journey again at a moderate (pace I reached Temuka at 6.15 with my feet and legs and cycle plastered with mud and grit. Shortly after tea I had a hot bath and got my wet things dried, after which 1 felt much refreshed, being noneth* worse for my gruelling spin. Next morning turned out very fine, and the roads were in fair condition, so- I left Temuka about noon for Lake Tekapo, a distance of 70 miles, over tip-top reads, mostly level, except at Burke's Pass, - in the Mackenzie Country, where there are a couple of small hills to climb. At 4.30 I reached Lake Tekapo. The night was quite clear and moonlight, and the enow-clad mountains at the back of the lake looked very fine indeed. There waa a very heavy frost next morning, and Lake Tekapo was steaming as though it were boiling. The morning was very fine, and the sky cloudless. At 8.40 I started off for Mount" Cook—7s miles. The roads to Lake Pukaki—3s miles —were unsuitable for fast travelling, being shingly and mostly composed of clay. However, I reached Lake Pukaki at 11.20, and at 12.10 resumed my journey. The roads from Pukaki to Mount Ccok —40 miles—are good, bad, and indifferent for cycling, necessitating keeping un the alert most of the time, a l * water-courses and gates are to be met with often. All the big mountain torrents are bridged. There are numerous miniature lakes near by, also plenty of wild game, such as geese, swans, teal, paradise ducks, and swamp hens. There are many parts of the road where it is all shingled, but feeling fit and solid I was able to> drive the machine through it. At 3.55 I reached the Hermitage—the only visitor. The grandeur of the alpine scenery is indeed very fine. Distance is so dieoep-. tive at the Alps. Mount Sefton, for instance, a beautiful snow-and-ice-clad moun-: tain, looks a short distance off, when redS* it is three .miles from the Hermitage. X saw several avalanches toppling from the face of Mount Sefton. When they reach the bottom there is a great upheaval of fine snow and mist, accompanied by a roar like distant thunder or breakers on the beach. Sunrise on. the Alps affords a sight, which must be <s«m to be appreciated. The sky as usual was as clear M a sapiphire next morning. 1 hired a pail of alpine boots from -th© Hermitage, and was provided with a military water-bottle and lunch in my haversack, and at 9.19 se*.«ff for the Hooker Glacier at the foot of Mount Cook and La Perouse, eight miles away. I struck a track and crossed the Hooker River over a suspension bridge, and trekked along many turns and windings until I was amon" the snow-beds. Mountain lilies are to be seen in abund- .-.-.-:-. ~.UO .-.- . -v i s ii<c vaterfall*. which,

coupled with the sight of the variouscoloured shrubs on either side of them, produce a very fine effect. Keas, or >r«ountain parrots, are plentiful about tJ.* Alps, and they make themselves known by their harsh screams. At 12.20 I reached the Hooker Glacier. A visitor to a glacier for the first time is rather impressed with the sight of the enormous bodies, which form domes, pinnacles, and spires. Huge crevasses and caves—all solid ice,—olivine or sea green in colour, give the place a weird appearance. Sitting- on an enormous block of ice with the haversack' under me [ had lunch, surrounded by snow and ice. Dead silence reigns, broken only by the thundering roar of an avalanche as it jar-eers downwards in its wild descent, obedient to the universal law of gravitation. The dazzling effect of the snow on the eyes is trying, consequently z>ne is obliged to wear dark glasses. At 2 o'clock I retraced my steps, but before getting off the glacier I experienced a couple of hurried and unrehea. v .~ed " seats." The Hooker Valley is filled with moraine running hundreds pf feet deep: huge caves and crevasses of snow, ice, rocks, and dirt mixed up and grey in colour are to be seen in- many places. A.t 4.40 I arrived back at the Hermitage. Visitors to the Hermitage get very well treated—the best of food and attention, etc. The visitors' book affords interesting reading, with many strange and apt quotations. One which took my fancy particularly ran thus:— " Oh, wad some pow'r the giftie gie lis, To see our legs aa others see them." The following morning was again very frosty and the sky cloudless, so I started off for Kurow —110 miles. It took me exactly the same time to reach Pukaki" as it took to ride from Pukaki to Mount Cook —viz.. three hour® 50 minutes. Some miles south of Lake Pukaki I had to wade three creeks. At one place th? road ran through a homestead, at another through a sheep station- at Benin ore. The road from Lake Pukaki to Omarama—3s miles—is unsuitable for cycling, being mostly composed of clay. From Omarama tc Kurow —35 miles—is ideal for cycling. I reached Kurow at 6.25 p.m., feeling very fit and solid after my journey, and left Kurow next day at 8 a.m. for Oamaru—42 miles, —which town I reached at 10.25. Saturday, May 7, I left Oamaru for Dunedin—7s miles—at 10.15 a.m., and reached the latter place at 3.40 p.m. During my tour I was greatly impressed Jwitb the kindness, hospitality, and consideration I received from strangers with whom I came, in contact. Although difficulties and obstacles are tc- be met with. on the road there is something by way of compensation that counterbalances all that. It is very beneficial for a cyclist when touring to go in for physical culture, for. apart from its own special benefits, it will enable him to endure the many hardships which are to be encountered on a tour of this kind