LURE OF THE WILD

Taranaki Daily News, 2 December 1933, Page 4 (Supplement)

LURE OF THE WILD

MILFORD SOUND ROAD OPENING UP FIORDLAND. SUPERB SCENIC DRIVE. / (By E. E. Muir, No. 1) By the forests, lakes, and fountains, Through the many-folded mountains. Shelley. It is a strange commentary upon our national initiative that it should be left to hard times like these" for the country to spend money in opening up its wonderful scenic resorts —sums which, in prosperous periods, would only be regarded as money spent on luxury works. The explanation, of course is that when so many private sources of employment have dwindled to vanishing point it has devolved upon the State, in relieving the prevailing distress, to find works which are likely to prove profitable investments, providing permanent sources of revenue and future employment for considerable numbers of people. Such works, obviously, must be few and far between in a country which has already' spent so much on public undertakings, but there is one venture which has been put in hand during the past four years which can be placed definitely within that category, viz., the Milford Sound Road. , , Although this road has only been completed along the shores of Lake Te Anau and up the Eglinton Valley to as far as half-way along the western shore of Lake Fergus, a distance of 52 miles, it is already one of the most popular motor drives in the Dominion, and has achieved this distinction to such an extent that it was estimated during last season, when the completed portion of the • road was some miles shorter than it is now, that no less than 1000 motorists were camped in the valley on one day, while on most other days during the season scores of motorists made the same pilgrimage. FINEST MOTOR DRIVE IN N.Z. What such patronage represents to the State in petrol and motor-car tire taxation must be a very considerable sum indeed, and a very, much greater amount still when it is remembered that such long distances have to be traversed over Otago and Southland before motorists can reach the actual starting point of the new road at the southern. 'end of .Lake Te Anau. Over and above this, increased business is given to the motor-car and petrol. industries and to hotels and boardinghouses, which, also, must represent a Considerable sum. To date £lOO,OOO has been expended on the Milford Sound Road as a relief work, and, though it has yet to foe driven through the most wonderful portion of the whole route until it. reaches that, superlative scenic glory, Milford Sound itself, it may be claimed to be even now a payable undertaking, giving a substantial revenue with the certainty of steadily increasing returns as it is pushed towards comple- ' It is remarkable that any road should have attained such popularity within so short a period. The explanation, however, is simple. It is that in its completed portion of 52 miles it already presents the finest motor drive ip the Dominion. The only other drive, in fact, which can really compare with it in mountain, lake, river, and forest scenery is the 118-mile road down from Hokitika to the Cook River, with the gorgeous scenery of. the Southern Alps and the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers on the left, and Lakes lanthe, Whahapo, and Mapourika and occasional glimpses of the open sea on the right. In the case of the Milford Sound Road there is the delightful drive of 18 miles along the eastern shore of Lake Te Anau (679 ft. above sea level), one of New Zealand’s finest scenic gems, and then for 34 miles up the narrow and supremely beautiful Eglinton Valley with towering snowclad ranges close in on both sides arid the scenery getting progressively grander the further the motorist proceeds. BEAUTIFUL TE ANAU’S SHORES. Nothing could be more peaceful and restful than the drive along the eastern shore of Lake Te Anau in the resplendent and warm sunshine Which we enjoyed. Here the motorist who desires to get away from the strain and stress of modem civilisation finds the conditions all that could be desired to give him that immediate sense of release—a splendidly formed road across wild, rolling downs, the freshness and rarity of the atmosphere which only such a wilderness can give, the extraordinarily beautiful lake lying spread out like a gigantic mirror at his feet, and the whole region enclosed by high, bold and rugged, and exceedingly picturesque mountains. Rising precipitously from the western shores of the lake stand the magnificent Kepler, Murchison, Stuart, and Frankton mountains, all handsomely clothed with the finest forest down to the water’s edge and crowned by snowfields and soaring peaks; fascinating glimpses are caught of the famous South and Middle Fiords of the lake which penetrate far into the deep recesses of these mountains, while away to the north-west can be seen the entrance to the North Fiord, a deep gash between the Stuart and Franklin Mountains; white fleecy clouds, the risen mists of. the early morn, cling tenaceously to the mountain sides, slowly rising still, and then vanishing—who knows where? Away to the south-east tower the Takitimo Mountains, rugged and bare, bathed in golden sunlight, and seeming much closer than they are in the clearness of the air; to the east and north-east, across the rolling wilderness covered with tussocks and manuka, the noble Livingston Range forms the horizon, rising steadily higher and higher as it runs north. Overhead is the respendent blue vault of heaven, mottled with lovely white fleecy clouds, which float lazily by, and as the sun’s rays catch them at. appropriate angles to the. observer are shot with silver and gold • , Far from the haunts of men, in such beautiful surroundings, ■ little speeding is done-on such a road; the temptation, rather, is to drive slowly, to linger here, miss nothing, take ■ numerous photo-, graphs—and remember it a 11...;.. Away up the lake we saw the steamer Tawera making her way northwards with tourists about to set out on the Milford Track, far-famed as “The Finest Walk in' the World.” ■ - Commencing at the ten-mile peg the road runs for two miles through a fine belt of mixed forest, principally, mountain beech, providing a pleasant foretaste of the sylvan glories to come Boat Harbour, about as charming an inlet from any lake as one could wish to see, soon comes into view.- The site of the homestead of Te Anau Downs Station, it forms an entrancing, scene winch many New Zealand artists will yet paint with its low-lying promontories, wide circle of blue, still waters, pic-

turesque homestead, and the bold Stuart and Franklin Mountains beyond lifting their snowy crests into the sky. Leaving the lake here, opposite the Middle Fiord, the new road takes a sharp turn to the east for two miles, and then, turning northwards once more, drops down at the 25-mile peg to close beside the Eglinton River. Now the beautiful Eglinton Valley can be seen opening out ahead, a narrow defile of fascinating loveliness running up for 28i piles between the Earl and Livingston Ranges. The southern end of the Earl Range, comprising End Peak (4116 ft and Mount Annick (5114 ft. stands out boldly on the left, while on the right the Liyinston Range, which commences opposite the southern end of Lake Te Anau and has been in view all along, continues to rise in steadily ascending peaks of all shapes and sizes until a height of close on 7000 ft. is reached by several of them. Like the mountains on the western shore of the lake both ranges are wholly clad in bush below the 3000 ft. level, and above this are decorated by belts of alpine shrubs, flowers, and grass, which, in turn, are surmounted by fine snowfields, black precipices, massive peaks, and splintered crags. The road, which is of easy grade (having a maximum of 1 in 10) and is splendidly constructed, is a credit to the surveyors and engineers of the Public Works Department and to the men who built it. It keeps close in to the Livingston Range on the right, and affords magnificent and rapidly-changing vistas of river and valley and of the Earl Range opposite, which, winding in and out, is seen to the fullest advantage, rising abruptly in great massives into the sky and in between its noble peaks affording interesting glimpses of the snowclad mountains behind that add so much to the grandeur of the scenery on the Milford Track. Going up the valley the most notable of the peaks forming the Earl Range are Mount Eglinton (6085 ft. Largs Peak (5555 ft. and Skelmorlie Peak,(s933ft.), each of which has a majesty or its own, On the other hand the Livingston Range, though higher, is less precipitous in its approaches rising generally in forested slopes at an angle of about 30 or 40 degrees to the snowline, and then bearing numerous peaks, the most prominent of which, going north, are Winton Peak (5759 ft. Countess Peak (5928 ft. Mount Mavora (6590 ft. Moffat Peak (6840 ft. and the David Peaks (6802 ft. The highest peaks on both ranges, Mount Eglinton on the Earl Range and Moffat Peak on the Livingston Range, stand opposite each other at the junction of the East Branch of the Eglinton River with the main stream (close to the 35-mile peg), forming magnificent contrasts of soaring grandeur which is emphasised by the beauty of the colourings and the clearness of the atmosphere. COLONNADES OF FINEST BEECH. Driving slowly up the valley, the motorist feels the irresistible urge to get out and view to better advantage the lovely prospects that _ completely surround him. If he is wise he will frequently do so, for such a scenic paradise as this cannot be seen every day of the week. How glorious are the colourings of Nature when seen in such superb settings, and how delicately they blend the one into the other! In the differing shades of blue and green, black and grey and white, there is nothing out of harmony here, and under cloud and sunshine they are constantly changing their hues. Amidst such scenes the new road winds its way along the valley floor beside the turbulent blue waters of the Eglinton River, which sing their eternal song. Now the road proceeds through seemingly endless colonnades of the finest red beech forest, now under a bold bluff upon which the scratchings of ancient glacial action can- be seen, now i across open and park-like flats which are dotted here and there with handsome trees, and now again through further miles of sylvan grandeur the splendour of which it is impossible to forget. Here the red beech grows in all its majesty, a great light-radiating creation 80ft. and 100 ft. high, with stately trunk and noble branches that give it an air of regal magnificence.

Every bend tn the road presents something wholly different White cascading torrents, coming down from the Livingston Range, pass through culverts underneath the road; over on the steeper Earl Range they, can be seen plunging down the mountain sides in milk-white foam. , -..ji Frequently numbers of paradise duefc are seen on the river, while along the road at intervals flights of kakas of up to as many as a dozen birds at a time sally forth on a fly round in the warm sunshine screeching with delight. . The valley is really notable for the plenitude of both species, though there are not now nearly so many of the ■ former as three years ago when, literally hundreds ,of paradise ducks were seen together at a time on the flats beside the river. Both species are among, the most beautifully plumaged of our native birds, and in the valley everything possible should be done to protect those remaining there. Occasional pigeons, robins, tuis, and bellbirds are seen, also fantails, silver eyes, and grey warblers.

LAKES GUNN, FERGUS, AND LOCHIE Half a mile past Cascade Creek (47£ miles), where a permanent camp has been left for the use of motorists, the, road traverses the eastern shore of Lake Gunn (1573 ft. a . superb mountain jewel wholly enclosed in forest, which occupies the valley floor for four miles in length by half a mile in width. On the western or far side the Earl Mountains rise sheer from its waters, mirroring themselves and their sylvan adornments in its crystal depths, while on the near side the road pushes its way through lordly beech, providing glimpses of the lake that challenge the faithfulness of the camera and the skill of the photographer to reproduce. Seen to the best advantage under a clear blue sky and under rapidly changing sunlight and cloud effects. Lake Gunn, m its perfect setting, is truly a very beautiful sight, forever changing its colourings. Now it is a brilliant, lustrous blue, now the palest green as the clouds come over, now. varying blues and greens, now splashed here and there with dazzling sheets of silver as its surface is brushed by the breeze. Even when the clouds are low down its waters are a dull green. , , , A short distance beyond Lake Gunn, where the road is still in course of construction through the forest, the Earl and Livingston Ranges, now nearing their northern terminals, close in, ana the valley floor gets narrower as it gradually ascends to the Saddle (1740 ft. the lowest pass in the whole district, which connects the two ranges and leads down into the Upper and Lower Hollyford Canyons. Here, in this upper portion of the Eglinton Valley, lies Lake Fergus (1590 ft. another extraordinarily beautiful mountain gem, which is a fit companion for Lake Gunn. Two miles long by about a third of a mile wide it, also, is wholly encircled by forest, and, with the mountain sides clothed in bush ascending steeply from its shores, its general colouring is of an even more pronounced green than that of Lake Gunn. Close to the Saddle is Lake Lochie, a mountain tani about 6 or 7 acres in extent, wholly surrounded in bush, which has nothing special to commend it. . The saddle itself is wholly in bush. It is the sylvan portal which admits the lover of the beautiful into the far finer scenic paradise beyond. The next article will give an account of a visit to Lake Howden, and of an ascent of Key Summit (3046 ft. the low terminal of the Livingston Range, above Lake Lochie, and of the magnificent views to be seen from there.