ON THE BROAD HIGHWAY

Taranaki Daily News, 4 March 1933, Page 17 (Supplement)

ON THE BROAD HIGHWAY

TARANAKI GIRL ON TOUR GISBORNE TO NEV/ PLYMOUTH. AFTERMATH OF EARTHQUAKES.

(By

B.H.C.

.—Conclusion.)

The Waioeka Road has been opened only a few years, and in many places it is very dangerous, very careful driving being imperative. More often than every quarter-mile there are open watercourses, with water in some cases almost reaching up to the running board. At one sharp bend we came suddenly upon a flock of sheep, and had to pull up and content ourselves with the scenery, while a mile and a-half of sheep straggled past. Once we passed a diminutive Maori boy carrying a' wild pig almost as large as himself—not his first either. Later we saw a small Maori girl extracting milk from a very “bushy” looking cow. She was milking in approved Taranaki fashion, but perched on a log beside the animal, with neither bail nor leg-rope in sight. We hurried as much as possible and reached the 2380 ft. summit with the engine hot and the water in the radiator boiling. In consequence Ave coasted down the -.ve miles the other side and filled up w.m water at the next r- iiient ford. At 7 p.m., just when we were crossing the deepest ford, the engine decided to stop. The self-starter refused to oblige, so out one of the boys had to get, first shedding shoes and socks and rolling up the legs of his trousers to crank the old bus. But alas, nothing happened. Presently the driver was perched on the mudguard drying the magneto with a till then highly respectable sock. A workman on the bank was kind enough to take a photograph of us. We did get

out within half an hour. ■ That night we camped 20 miles from Gisborne; on a river bank that looked ideal until the rain came next day. A bright spot there was the generosity of a nearby farmer. We went to buy a little milk and returned to camp laden with eggs, milk, meat, cooked and raw, and bread—really home-baked bread. On the Monday we had breakfast in the pouring rain. We became really quite good at balancing on a few dry inches of log, under the shelter of a kindly leaf or two. We arrived in Gisborne at lunch time, bought a few necessary provision, and drove out to Tatapouri beach. At a little hotel and general store there we bought crayfish. 4 for Is, small but sweet. We made a camp near the beach, dried our tent and various belongings, and after afternoon tea felt more fit to return to

Gisborne proper. It was there that we first noticed evidence of the disastrous earthquakes of a year or so before. There are concrete buildings alftiost both sides of the street which end abruptly in corrugated iron roofs and verandahs. Houses have all naked patches where the chimneys had gone through the roof. - Several concrete walls we noticed were 1 still unrepaired, and hillsides in -the p neighbourhood showed huge cracks and v ridges. , P En route to Napier we stopped to get • apples and milk, and .a farmer offered his shearers’ hut for the night. We found it positively a palatial residence, with a fireplace and table and water

laid on. We were on the road again early, and soon came upon a settlement of workmen’s huts, quite deserted since railway construction had ceased. We stopped for lunch near Marere Springs. The bush scenery there is wonderful. Nikau palms seem to flourish. We arrived at Wairoa at midday, and were again met by earthquake havoc. The old. bridge was gone, except for half

a span emerging above the river. The rest of it disappeared in that second dreadful ’quake. The new bridge was

destroyed in its birth, and reconstruction is necessary before it will be trafficworthy. We crossed the river by ferry, gliding slowly over side by side with a funny old hooded boat carrying Maori passengers, and seeming to' have come from a, different world.. In the town we found that concretetopped buildings are uncommon, and hillsides in the neighbourhood are scarred and cracked. After lunch we moved on again into hills and gorges. In one place we saw the early constructions of a railway, viaduct deserted since the earthquake scares. We arrived at Lake Tutara in the evening and pitched camp. Everything was ideal for camping—water, wood, shade, soft reeds for a bed and a swimming pool within a few yards. It is very picturesque. There are willows dipping round the water’s edge, and water lilies floating near the brink; We were up early next morning, and

for the first and only time on the trip had a swim before breakfar* The lake was warm and pleasant in spite of its inmates—chiefly eels and frogs. In Bayview we found acres and acres of tomatoes, and bought some very cheaply at a road-side stall. At Petane we found a dear little interesting store selling everything from car grease to a pocket handkerchief. We rested after our next meal (3 p.m.), but we called it lunch. It consisted chiefly of tomatoes and Petane bread. At Napier the hills were very cracked. What a different Napier from the one we knew in June, 1931. After that awful week in February, when the world seemed in a turmoil, as the fire raged and buildings crumpled, we had left Napier a wreck — what seemed a hopeless wreck. We returned to a Napier that has still definite evidence of past wrecking, but has been rebuilt and re-planned and thrives again. ■Surely it is a monument to the courage and “sticking to it” power of the British nation, and indeed all mankind. The Napier carnival had then just commenced. In Hastings and Havelock North, too, this same rebuilding has gone on. Hastings, of course, was spared the fire, so there is less evidence of turmoil tljan at Napier. At Havelock North we had our first night since our departure between sheets, and very pleasant again iit seemed to sit on chairs and. use table napkins. At ten o’clock we left Hawke’s Bay behind. Brick garden paths are very noticeable in this district, due of course to the fallen chirnne. . Even earthquakes have their advantages. We lunched by Waipawa River, and found it pleasant to have dry weather with us, with dry grass and sunny roads. We arrived that night in Palmerston North. What a city it seemed after a Bohemian life, .

and I think somehow we kept to back streets* '■* Next day we returned to New Plymouth. I won’t make you travel with us along the Palmerston to New Plymouth road. It is too well worn. Our drive was uneventful, but our hearts were sad, because in spite of rain and sandflies and smoke and milkless tea it had been a marvellous holiday. We have since planned where we will go next time. In spite of our regrets as the good old mountain loomed into view there came a happy, comfortable thought of Home,