AN IMPORTANT ROAD

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 62, Issue 4430, 26 May 1941, Page 8

AN IMPORTANT ROAD

OKAU TO OHURA. NEW HIGHWAY- METALLED. The new Okau Road which runs from' Ohura to join the New Ply-mouth-Auckland main highway neai’ Mount Messenger, bringing Ohura to within 70 miles of New Plymouth, now has a metal surface over its entire length of 36 miles. Not only does this road open up a stretch of back country which for scenic beauty will compare with any in the Dominion, but more important it links the Ohura district with west coastal towns and Taranaki’s deep-sea port. The range oi scenic beauty this highway has to offer has few peers in any other part of New Zealand, and this is vouched for by well-trav-elled South Islanders who some time ago visited the district. Vast cliffs of papa and natural bush in a rugged setting flank the road on each side, while one great advantage from the scenic aspect is that all the country from Waitaanga to Ahititi on both sides of the road is Crown land, and therefore none of the bush will be milled on the 13-mile stretch. Wild pigs and game are to be found in profusion, and so plentiful are the wild pigs that their rooting marks have been found right up to the doors of the roadmen’s huts. STEADY CLIMB. Motorists who take this trip have only a small distance to drive before they are greeted with some of the most magnificent scenery on the road. From Ohura, which is 500 feet above sea level, they begin a steady eightmile climb by winding road to the top of the Waitaanga Saddle, over 1200 feet above the Ohura township. Then they descend into the valley, passing the sawmills, and on to the Waitaanga flats. Twenty miles of the journey will now be completed, and the final 13 miles down the “ Grade ” will bring the motorist to Ahititi, near Tongaporutu. From there the main New Plymouth-Auckland highway is followed over Mount Messenger and through to New Plymouth. GREAT ADVANTAGES. The great interest that has been shown in this road is illustrated in the representations that have been made bv public bodies in New Plymouth to have it completed as soon es possible. It will have clear-cut advantages, the principal one being that the Ohura district will be given new and greater access to a shipping port, while the settlers will be a com-

paratively short distance from the coastal beaches at Mokau and Tongaporutu. It will also provide a quick and attractive route between Taranaki and Taumarunui, Lake Taupo and the Tongariro National Park. Mr Darcy Cameron, patrol officer of the Automobile Association (Taranaki), who inspected the road last week-end, stated that the surface was good, but in wet weather care would still be necessary in a few places owing to the fact that the blinding was of papa, which became very slippery after heavy rain. The road, he pointed out, was narrow and winding. In the event of heavy rain it would be advisable for those intending to use the road to make inquiries at the Punga, Whare Tea Rooms, near Mount Messenger, as to the condition of the highway, for slips would probably occur from time to time.