WONDERFUL JOURNEY

Waikato Independent, Volume XLI, Issue 3891, 13 August 1941, Page 4

WONDERFUL JOURNEY

CAMBRIDGE GIRL’S EXPERIENCE OVER 250 MILES ON HORSEBACK “See your own country first,” is a wise axiom for tourists, and one / adopted by a Cambridge girl, Miss Dorothy Woodroffe, daughter of Mr and Mrs I. D. Woodroffe, of Te Miro, who for several months has been travelling and working in the South Island. Together with a girl friend she met in Nelson, Mh?s Woodroffe has made her way South during the winter and has had many interesting experiences.

In a recent letter to her parents, Miss Woodroffe tells of the journey she and her friend made on horseback from Franz Josef through the Haast Pass to Queenstown, a distance of about 250 miles. Details of the trip commence when the pair left Waiho on the West Coast. They rode about 30 miles that day to Karangaroa, and next morning were off again. They came out on to the coast at Bruce Bay, and after covering 22 miles reached Mahatiti. On the third day they came to the end of the road after going about 10 miles. From then on there was just a track, and fairly bad going. “The bush was marvellous, meeting over our heads in most places, making an archway,” wrote Miss Woodroffe. We passed the Blue River Hostel after putting our names in the Travellers’ Book, and made for the Blue River Hut, where we had heard a man had been stationed to clear some slips.” The man made tea for them and gave them some hot scones for lunch. Then followed eight miles of rough, rocky, narrow climbing, and they had to lead tjie horses. The going was easier along the side of the range and at 6 p.m. they reached the Iron Hut. Rats had been the only inhabitants of it for years, she said. It was only necessary to put sliprails across the track about a quarter of a mile each side of the hut to keep the horses in. “After tea we wriggled into our sleeping bags, only to wriggle' out again at 4 a.m., frozen through. We lit the fire and had breakfast, hut as there was only one billy, it was a prolonged meal. We were still cold at 9 o’clock, so we led the horses eight miles downhill towards the sea to Copper Creek Hut, where we let them go. We saw a big stag, while .pigeons and keas were plentiful.” Four miles further on they came to the Maori Hut, almost on the beach. They rang people to come over from the other side of the Haast River for them with a boat. However, the river was low, and they were advised to ford over six miles further on. The water came up to their knees .and as the current was too swift for them to stop, their packs became damp. , The night was spent at a nearby farm and then for the next two days they followed the Haast River, which was as clear as crystal. One night was spent at Clark's Hut and the other at the Burke Hut. The weather was extremely cold. In t::e mornings, the horses’ manes and tails were frosted. The soap was frozen in the celluloid cases and the flannels stiff as boards.

Oa the second day along the river they had only eight miles to cover, but the journey took 31 hours. This left them 25 miles to travel' before reaching the new road being put through. About six miles were slippery climbing, after which they forded a creek and scrambled up about 100 ft. of shingle to the road. The camp was finishing up that day, as the road is to be left until after the war.

The road was slippery, frost was on the trees like snow, and long icicles hung from the rocks on the bank. Nineteen miles of the iy»ad was between bare snow-tipped ranges. Makarora, was found to be nothing more than a farmhouse which accommodated Haast Pass travellers, and there they,spent the night. From there the journey was easy but cold. They rode along the side of Lake Wanaka and then crossed a narrow neck to follow the shore of Lake Hawea till the Hawea Flats were reached after dark. That day’s journey had been 35 miles. The following morning they were off again over the Hawea'' Flats, which had been well cultivated with oats and lucerne. Wanaka was reached for lunch, and then on again to Cordrona that night. The destination next day was Arrowtown. On the way they passed the foot of the Crown Range, the highest motor road in New Zealand, and closed to traffic in winter. They led their horses the eight miles to the top. The snow became deeper

and deeper all the way. The long trek was nearly over. From Arrowtown, there was a distance of 12 miles to cover, and they reached Queenstown after eleven days’ travelling.' They found a paddock with hay for the horses, and both had jobs by five o’clock. A later message received by Mrs Woodroffe was to the effect that they worked for a few days at Walters’ Peak, one of the largest sheep stations in New Zealand, consisting of 50,000 .acres and funning 30,000 Merinos. After that they continued on to Dunedin.