THE MACKENZIE COUNTRY.

Timaru Herald, Volume CVIII, Issue 16801, 3 April 1919, Page 3

THE MACKENZIE COUNTRY.

ROMANTIC AND.BEAUTIFUL. I At the hist meeting of tho South ' Canterbury Development League Mr R I Guthrie, for himself and Mr G. fc>. Cray, read the following report concerning the Mackenzie Country and tlij desirableness of popularising it as a tourist and health resort: "K ' It as fully" recognised that up to the present the tourists have ,'n every way bean splendidly catered for, but 'owing ■to the unavoidable ■erratic flow "of tourists at different periods, sometimes the sleeping accommodation has been congested, and on a. few occasions tourists for' this reason have been refused accommodation for the time being, and some have therefore been unable to see Mount Cook. Put with the majority i$ has been merely the .disadvantage of changing the date of their visits At the ?ame time ft is generally conceded that if the place is popularised on necessary and up-to-date lines in the near future the tourist flow will bo at least three times its present average, and therefore a great deal more accommodation is urgsntly required: and this should be erected as early as possible-. It is considered that the necessarily first-class' s tyl e of catering at the Hermitage naturallv justifies a high tariff, which is all'right for the wealthy travelling tourist, but makes it a too costly holiday to the ordinary 'ousiness man or woman, sav of • Timaru, or othtr country towns in Canterbury, who may be eooDed up within the wajls of a house during the whole year, and . who is desirous of spending his-or her-annual holiday in the invigorating atmosphere of the. glorious Mount Cook scenery. It is therefore considered that -the increased accommodation ■ should cither be an entirely hew building, run on plain lines with, a modsrate tariff, or a large wing should bo.added to the present hostel .run.on a plainer and more moderate tariff distinct from the present hostel. And as an important accessory to this, the present transport service should b9 remodelfc>:L In tb». first place it is considered unjust and inconsistent with the principles of a true democratic country. .thp.f the State shori'd give anv person or company a mononolv in anything without public ■ oampeti t'on Therefore it is considered that tenders for this mail sernV? should always bronlled in +ho usual way.' but. ap tho plant reouired '« largeand costly, therp could Tie no objection +o a five y°ars* contract instead -i, the usual "fhf* o years. And further. +her<? should lv\ a rohdit-'oii in tV mail, contract th»t passengers should be-carried at a maximum fee much less than . the existing charge,. By doing this Mount Cook would be doubly popularised and made accessible to the-- thousands of moderate means who are quite unable toget there under, exsiting conditions. There is yet another alternative suggested and strongly advocated, and that is that as the Hermitage is under State control (and we hope will always lie), and the railway is under State ownership, the connecting l : nk ; between ; the railway- and the 'Hermitage motor /.service, should also be owned and coh- • trolled by tbf.:StatPi. ~-.-, .-'../ Although Mount .Cook will always ba the major, attraction, it certainly- by.nn means exhausts the ' tourists''field .of pleasure in the Mackenzie Country. For those seeking health and scenic beauty .combined, from, shooting, - ingirand.'other plea.sures, the Pukakf. find Teknpo \lioste].? probably : could, iridt be_- excelled in, any.-..part of the;- D.O:-, minion. They are both fortunately i situated in - what. has., always .->-been-.j : known -as the •"diy'Zon.e"- that -runs'! through ' the Mackenzie basin right] through Central Ota go. They seldom get much of the heavy nor'wost rains that are soVommon at the Hermitage,' neither' do they get the cold east and-: south east rains that are so prevalent in the oast coast. The attraction, of the Two ThumbiKarige and tfie Hunter Hills breaks the weather, and consequently from their altitude and light rainfall as health resorts they are unequalled. The Pukaki hostel is a well kept, fairly large and 'commodious building on the. main tourist route from Fairlie to the popular southern- cold lakes, nestling in a cosy nook at the mouth of the lake,, and has a view of mountain scenety "unsurpassed in any part of the Dominion. In the fbre>ground is the 'beautiful lake with the mighty Mount Cook in tho background,easily visible, standing there in all its glory, towering among the clouds' high above the neighbouring peaks. On the left is the mighty. Mount Sefton arid the rugged Moorhouss range, and on the right -is the Mary's Range, and the Tasman, with a distant view of the serrated 1 peaks of the great Liebig and other mountain ranges. WitHi a motor launch and samo row boats' on this lako and a few other necessary improvements this place as a tourist resort has a br'ght f»ture. Tekapo is the nearest, Mackenzie Country tourist resort to the railhead, being only 26 miles from Fairlie, and 65 miles from Timaru. Its altitude - s 2321 feet, about the same height as. the Hermitage, and 933 feet higher than Pukaki. I+.s great altitude and low rainfall makes it one of the healthiest places not. only in the Dominion but in the world, particularly for aK chest troubles, and the ideal-place for a great, national consumption sanatorium. At the present moment there is being erected on the shore of this Jake a very large, modernised tourists' hostel, which accommodation has long bean much desired in this locality. Tho future possibilities of this lake and gorge with its beautiful lake and mountain and glacial scenery.' as i health resort can certainly not be realised at the present time, and must eventually equal, if not surpass -the Tasman Valley and Mount. Cook in tha hearts of the future tourist and health seekers. The lake is sixteen m'les long, and five miles from the mouth is a beautiful island of" 70 acres. This is a plantation reserve and was all planted many yenrs a.wo. and was carefully laid out "with level -<want patches suitable for ci-'cl--efc pitches and bowling greens and other snorts, as the council of that dav realised that t'->e future traffic on this lake would demand an extensive building on thja island aa a neiressary adjunct to p. larger tourist hostel on the mainland.

With a nood motor launch, and n fleet of rowing boats the equipment for health and pleasure here would bo complete. Tli's hostel is .situated 30 miles from 'the Gocllov i'lafier tenivnal. the swnnrl larsresfc fdacier in the Dominion, and 20 miles of that distance, is -over a fairly good motor road' excepting that a bridge s reouired over the Macaulay river, which it is understood is now nnder way. The remaining ten miles. is the usual river 'hod, and would require some a.ttent nn. At tTi'.* tsrminal of the glacier T firmly r>«Uev« there 1 will bo eventually a second Hermitage, and its justification is this: Its glacial and mountain scenery is r.lmost equal to that of Mount Cook: the Godley Glacier is easily and safely traversed to the Sealy Saddle. This saddle is only 5800 feet or about 2500 feet fr<;»n the Godley river bed to tho saddle. The descent on the West Coast side to the bush is short and easily accomplished. A mile below this on the south side of the Okaritu river right down to the West Coast road there is a partially grown over bush track that was made, and used in the earK- dinging days that could easily be again cleared, and this, with some other improvemejiis ou the Godley side

would make an easy and safe track from the east to the west coast, with glacial and bush scenery all the way of. unsurpassed beauty. And again to the alpine enthusiast who might wash to include the Godley scenery before going to Monnt Cook or' vice versa, there is the CJasson Glacier with its terminal level with tho terminal of the Godley glacier. This glacier leads to a saddle over which is the Murohisoii glacier and from there to the Hermitage the scenery is the grandest. This route is easily accomplished by the veriest amateur and with a hut on the Murchison to break ' for a night the journey would become very popular. The. scenery in the Tekapo-Godley valley T am ; describing from personal knowledge as T'have often bseri over the Sealy Saddle and have made the journey from the Godley river to the bush on the West Coast side comfortably in six hours.

When the mighty hydro-electric nower now running to waste from the Tekapo is pronerly harnessed and. .a '-t electric railway running between Fairlie and Pukaki the romantic arid beautiful Mackenzie - Country will come into its own, and. will then he one of the. best known and'-prente«t tourist and health reports in this Dominion. With a sympathetic and progressive Government this should all eventuate at a surprisingly early period.