THE MILFORD WALK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3804, 8 February 1927, Page 31

THE MILFORD WALK.

BENDIGO DICTOR’S EXPERIENCE. RAIN FALLS INCESSANTLY. One of the four passengers by the Moeraki who actually did walk the Milford Track when the steamer put into the Sound was Dr W. J. Long, of Bendigo. Although he did most of the walk in heavy rain he is delighted with his experience, and has nothing but good to say for the track officials. “Of course,” he told our representative, “you can’t talk about it. It’s pure magnificence. You realise that, and you also realise that any words must completely fail you. “But how did you get ashore, and what exactly “ a PP ene d ” the interviewer asked. “Well, our ship, as you know, was a day late,” Dr Long said. “We steamed up the Sound dead . slow, the captain having waited till we had breakfasted. We did not go nearly as far as the Bowen Falls, but we waited inside pretty nearly three hours, firing several detonators and sounding the siren. In the meantime Captain Hamilton, who was with a surveying party at the Sound, rowed out in a small boat to get what news there was, and he offered to take half a dozen ashore. The ship then turned about and the water, surging up, took away the rowlocks and all the oars but one, so that the shore party had to be curtailed by two and the boat had to be ‘fish tailed’ along from the stern. It was raining heavily all the time, and we had hard work making the shore at Sutherland s eld place. There we were able to

get in touch with the launch, which took us to the Sandfly Huts. We left the Moeraki at 1 p.m., and we did not arrive at the huts till 4 o’clock. It was all we could do to fight the current, and it took over half an hour to negotiate the short stretch between Sutherlands and the huts, fhe Arthur River was flowing down at a terrific rate.*’ " Dr Long states that only the sleeping huts have been burned out at Milford. The store huts are still standing and there are plenty of stores there. They had brought stores from the ship as a precautionary measure but these were not nccessarv and they left them at the hut. From Milford they set out immediately, in the rain for Quintin,. having been told that it would be wise to push on, and they arrived at half-past 9 that night, with the rain falling all the time. “But it was all very wonderfill,” the doctor added enthusiastically. “We saw the Bowen Falls and we saw the Sutherland Falls, but really the whole place was alive with waterfalls, all extremely beautiful And the mountain daisies on the Pass were magnificent.” The only break in the weather occurred on the top of the Pass, when there were 10 minutes of sunshine, and then the clouds banked up again and wept incessantly. The trip was completed in the same miserable weather, but the tourists took it in the true spirit and thoroughly enjoyed every inch of the walk. Dr Long was accompanied by his daughter, and she, too, speaks highly of the trip. It is interesting to note that his first, remark, even before any mention was made of Milford Sound, was, “My goodness, but you’ve got a beautiful city. I’ve been around the world, and this is about the. .most beautiful I’ve seen.” The unsolicit, ied tribute is surely the sincerest one ! Dr Long was one of those who attended the Congress in Dunedin 31 years ago. “I have been to only three congresses.” he said, “and two were in Dunedin.” He also remarked on the purity of speech that is to be found in New Zealand—a fact which has been remarked upon many a time before. “You notice it, at once,” he said. “Taxi, drivers and railway porters all speak with a singular purity.”