ACROSS COOK STRAIT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 78, 22 May 1911, Page 8

ACROSS COOK STRAIT.

(V - “Ikr.khlock.”) A liv> ;’.c‘.'mCS Cook Cirtic up the •sor/ onaiuul into Queen cmavloitc Bound, and thenco to beautiful l'io[i;n, is s.:.>mct;.irg to bo remembered .... i;vu . i; I'avollinir and observiU" it was a line day,as days have .r./jio of Into, when wo steamed iiom i":;e Wellington wharf and soon we moved tn'itwanl horn Pint Nicholson. .Naturally all aboard viewed the scene for all p.t: lings partake of tins characl>; i:,tie. There are some who look ■aek in anticipation, and there are -■Tiers who feel that perhaps it is tne ~,-g time they will again meet some "rievd and relative. However, it is i, ft my intention to moralise. ue are hafiway down the harbour already. We can sea I’otone, and the score and more of liny resorts that will e;> used in the days to come as li.m.jthn- .dices for tired and weary, Weliiin; tonians, when nature chums a .■.■si from the. busy competition th«.t messes ever more'and more in this of luiinan kind. I hero is a .'ash breeze blowing, and as wo near the Hoads, where to our left rises the lighthouse, our steamer rods anil plunges more and more, and soon passengers feel that possibly the trip across the Straits won’t be as plelisnivljlo as it promised hardly a hit _ an jwju jio-o. Tne hell for dinner is a welcome call to those who don’t mind the sea, and are not dictaroed oy mo 1 ions that produce strange sensalionc. As a rule ( am not a had sailor, and Just now there is no tunny feeling that tilings are not what they ;, .eoni. There, we are all seated, anil tvv to make the best of our positions, j'oV though we arc bravo in our efforts there are some who will be giad when dinner and voyage alike are over. We no a iollv company, however, and w ait with' “quips and pranks,” the time passes merrily, although a lurch now and them quietens our spirits lor the moment, and reminds ns that wo arc not vet safe from the “mill i-e nor” which has already shown ( itseh unong the passengers. And tnis is the entrance to Tory Channel, elm von say? Well, it is, indeed, ginnd and imposing, and it seems as 1! we are about entering the mouth of a river, foi the land on either hand is ■mt more flmn a stone’s throw from mr shin, wliicli now moves, along as atcadily and pleasantly as if sho were i, tiny boat on a tiny lake. Iho ’nils aro rough, and in places are covred, apparently, with scrub, but thcro is 110 timber —nothing, in fact, .‘oyoud the peculiar surroundings to auso one to pause and wonder at „hir, entrance to Queen Charlotte sound which we are ahouu to enter. K'ewns to the \ fglrt of us, downs •0 i'no left, running and winding away Into the land, were to bo seen as we proceeded steadily on our course. Vhc.rc on oar heft could he traced along the hill side, handing here and rising there, a cut track, anil now mil then we could see a small solitary house, in which let us hope lived a happy settler, although it mhy as well hi confessed that one whole land area for miles above dory Chan--101 would not attract me as a resident oven -wero it offered as a Irco gift, ok nn undertaking to live in tne place. Working men in town, your lot may he sometimes hard, but die poor fellow who is isolated and separated from his fellows by sea md hill and vale has no forms of vyoymeat like you ! 0, Solitude! Where are the charms Which sages have seen on thy face ? Better dwell in the midst of alarms Than reign in this horrible place.” These words ran through my mind as we slowly moved up tne bounds, ;ut the '’bhades of night were falling,’' and nisi as dusk came o'er as; j/icton was announced, and there slio ,vas asleep-—well, not really so, but presenting something that made one ieel that here is tne place for the tired mind and tired body to come and rest and seek enjoyment. Talk of happy spots—why, Ticton should be tne ‘•lace selected by a fatherly Governaciit to send our young folks just mirricd to spent a quiet and real honeymoon. What remembrances such .1 place would provide to the inexpen- . veil cevp'lo just about to set forward ■ a a life of hope and uncertainty. Ah! ,vo, who have 10 go to Blenheim, must -ot, dare not, stay longer to moraliso ovoi matrimonial days. Wo are past the meridian of such joys, and yet there is no forgetting, for the auu.re is the past, reviewed again and again through hope. The hotel, where .piito a pmy. gathered together for jirucr, is well appointed, the proprietor is obliging, and a -good dinner is toned for vno modest charge of •ightoenpoiica. W’e have only to walk icross tne street, am. lucre a train is iwaiting us, and we start for Blenu.eim, where we arrived about eight iTlock, anil some oi our party go to ■.ho Club Hotel, and others to the Criterion, liotli of thorn being, so we loro informed, equally well-appointed. Ucnhcim is eighteen miles Irom hie-, ton, and is situated in a small branch f the Wairau itivei. The river W’ai-

mii, from near Blenheim to the sea, i distance of about seven miles, is •imply a deltoid area, and the whole ■aimtry, even up to the town of ileniieim it,tcif is subject to serious .foods. These areas oi deltoid land make at a rapid rate, under ordinary renditions, and no doubt the time vill come when tile land in the viciudv of the town will he much higher War • ■ ~ > j > ...not now m, v'no seen along the of the stream that p.asses ■SffOugh the town liigli hanks raised ■ iko the dykes in Holland above the ordinary level, and these have• been ■■oust meted 10 save the town from the Honda that take place at far too frequent intervals to bo pleasant. But tile town itself has some well-built business p.’aees, and the hotels are huge ant! well appointed.' The Post rh'flce and Covcrnmeut buildings were iiirn the oi l Provincial buildings, and for a (own of I 'no size of Blenheim! are quite imposing. i was anxious to obtain a man ol the district and of the count:;.- Icing towards. Nelson, for our party were going in that direction by coach, and a map is always of much interest to assist one’s observations by Luo way. Having an hour tsi spare our party—for let mo say here I was one of a party which was,, visiting Blenheim and the western portion of Ihe South Island—determined to visit the site of the celebrated Wairau .Massacre. Perhaps lew of ilioso wiio read this hurriedly written paper will have read, or even heard of the massacre, hut it couslii’iV,a one of Hip most important incidents in tlie early settlement of New Zealand, and certainly did much to stay the efforts of the New Zealand i/and Corny nv in the purchase nrd acquisition of land. Much of the early settlemeiil of Now Zealand is c<:« looted with the doings of tin’s coiuPn» v. which was, formed and sec retained— if I may coin a word—by the ctTj braved .(libbon Wakefield.