TE ANAU-MILFORD TRACK

Otago Witness, Issue 4041, 25 August 1931, Page 66

TE ANAU-MILFORD TRACK

COSTS OF UPKEEP A REDUCTION SUGGESTED. WELLINGTON, August 17. In response to a suggestion from the south the Minister of Internal Affairs (Mr P. A. de la Perrelle) has instructed. Mr G. W. Clinkard (Tourist Department) to prepare details with a view to reducing the costs of the upkeep of the Te AnauMilford track and the hostel at Milford Sound. The Minister stated to-day that the contract for the erection of the Milford Hostel had been let by the Reform Government in February, 1928, the price being £14,178 3s. The work included the accommodation .house, staff cottage, electric lighting supply, and water and drainage. The Otago Expansion League and the Southland League had pressed for the erection of a new hostel for a. long time before the work was commenced and the press and the public of that end of the South Island had appreciated the recognition given to the finest walk in the world. Owing to the abnormal condition of the weather the work of erecting the hostel was not completed until December, 1928. Since then the general economic depression had progressively militated against the success of the track and the hostel, but those who bad visited the beautiful track and the Sound had claimed that the Government of the day had made a wise move in providing adequate accommodation at one of the world’s finest scenic resorts. The Milford Sound and other similar places where the physical difficulties were great were always responsible for a considerable expense, Mr de la Perrelle said, but they must not be condemned because of that. They should be regarded as part of a great national asset, for such the tourist traffic to the Dominion undoubtedly’ was. Milford Sound and the walk to it were among the Dominion’s greatest attractions. In other parts of the Dominion tourists from overseas had repeatedly stated that they would advise their friends to visit New Zealand if it were only for the sake of the walk over the track. “ We cannot afford to neglect the assets we have built up in the past simply because they are not showing a profit in these days of depression,” Mr de la Perrelle added.