RIVERTON AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.

Southland Times, Issue 19002, 23 March 1903, Page 2

RIVERTON AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.

13 Y THE VAGRANT;

(By train twice a day.^U the *yeUi«- . round, and during - the summer months by special train leaving early each Wednesday afternoon,: distance 26 miles. .*"'By'..r6i^d;^a. : -'VYaI--." lacctown, etc, 23 inilejs ; via :: the \ beach 18 miles. Arrangements .cari. be made at any of the hotels for the*-: hire of boats or conveyances and ' horses. Train leaves for Colpc, etc, every morning, returning \l? ' _.'-lhb ; evening.) ",.**•-;-. Kiverton is an <>14 township - tha ; t has many attractions _6 : a visitor if the inhabitants would only* wake up sufficiently to inform the^strttnger of the many iii-oresting places He^ntght ' see in an aiternqojt or 'daj^s -"Visit: How many people who visit the oldest whaling station iy- Spiilthlftnd, or even how. tnarry of it). .. present --residents, know that the last big stand made by the Ngatimanioo triibe was fought within a couple of miles of the town— just about half; way .between tho cemetery and "the Da-jry Fat tory on the * Aparima Tiiver ls'tho exact spot as hear as can be told. Unfortunately the present day Maori is not the same creature— fond of learning, storing, and often; embellishing the doings of his Jorefathors-. that the Maori of fifty years ago w&s and it is always, hard, especially in Southland, where the Maori historian has been conspicuous by his absence. Lo^ei accurate information regarding events ot-this kind. That this story has some truth in it, fully borne out by the many concilia sive proofs that/are eveiy where visible to a careful observer who nitres.. an examination 9* the ground bcre- ■;■ abouts and its. surrbimdings_ Ihere have heen found many;, interes"i»g trophies in the shape of adzes and axes, and lower down the river on the samo side, is an old buryUlg __ ground containing many bodies. 9T rather skeletons, which after a strong wind or gale aye often left bore in the sand. And how very i few visitors know of the beauties of the *Pouru-i>ourukiuo Xi ver, for mile,, navigable for boats, and tho glories of the coo^t on whnt is known, as tho BucH Bcftsh, I U,.ve spent nwnjr

a pleasant day climbing about on the

rocks, or lying about on the sandy beaches, or pulling or sailing on the estuary or river, and jot the beauties of this old seaport town are hardly known even to our well -in-

formed Tourist Department. We go "down by train, walk round to Howv,eU>". Point--n_-med alter that old sailor-pioneer,* or watch a game of ' |Jo*wls,6r -drink a cup of tea witli some friehd and pass the time of day, but we rarely think of going further afield even a d#y or so there. It is only half an hour's walk from the bridge to go through the fast diminishing busb on the long, low and. last spur of the Longwood Range, which runs out at the water's edge at Howell's Point, and come out on a cleared slope facing the grand Pacific. -Ocean and the rock bound coast on the eastern side of Colac Bay. There with the breakers showing through the • wrecks of tho many forest giants left to rot themselves out after the bush clearcrs' fire has passed through them, wfth *Rarotoka (Centre Island) standing out clear against the horizon, .as a back ground, a giand picture awaits the visitor. A few yards down the slope the shore itself is reached, passing almost under a peculiar leaning rock, with stunted sea scrub almost to the water's edge —the latter all leaning against the side of the hill as if tired— the effect of J.he prevailing winds. To the left, about^ two miles away, lies Howell's Point, a good but perhaps a little rough walk, while to the right lies the present Maori sctilcment at Oraka (Colac Bay) about five miles away. At this settlement there are still some fifty or sixty naitives residing, who make a living ljy iisHing-. flax-baskot making, ote. About two miles along the beach towards . the settlement is a peculiar freak •of nature called the Blow Hole-^-a curious square hole in a solid face of rock, through which thousands of gallons of sea water rush in and out with a thundering roar -as each wave advances and recedes. When the tide is out, if one climbs on to the top of this rock, a strange sight is seen — acres and acres of luxuriant sea-weed sweep to and fro witli the ever reversing current, as "if controlled by sonie~uncanny po wer. The view of the hole and sea-weed -is ono of those majestic sights that make one reajise the wondrous works of tlie Almightj**. A few yards away are traces of Maori ovens— the stones still showing signs ol the fires — and one can only conjecture what the dishes were that were prepared by the "chefs" of the tribe. From just about here it is estimated _ that hundreds of trophies have been unearthed, and chip.. of the black stone used by the Maoris to make their ancient weapons and 'tools can still be picked up almost as plentifully* as blackberries off a bramble bush. If the walk from Riverton so far— "-not more than six miip-.-~ has been ,too much for the visitor to walk back a ( gain by the same track, the Oraki railway station is not more than about tw r o miles away, and if early enough in the afternoon there is a convenient train returning from Orepuki to Invercargill.