WANDERINGS IN WONDERLAND.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12145, 31 March 1908, Page 2

WANDERINGS IN WONDERLAND.

By a Traveller

Tfio conditions under which timrj is spent make all the difference. To Lhe unfortunate who hears the sentence " 1-i days' hard,"' a 'fortnight assumes eternal proportions, but the &aine period, when it constitutes one's 'annual leave, appears but a fleeting moment. Knowing the speed with which holiday hours run, I found myself, a few weeks ago, debating where and how I should spend a fortnight's vacation. "'To Jlctorua and Auckland, via the Main Trunk, returning by the Wanganui Itiver,'" suggested itself as a profitable ' way in which to spend a fortnight. I That, suggestion I adopted, and in due time found myself travelling on , the New Zealand railways. A night was spent very pleasantly at Taihape, and a start made nest morning for Taumarunui. We changed into a Public Works train, and then really began the Main Trunk journey. Mataroa is on the boundary of the King Country, and of course beyond that point iliquor must not bo taken. The officials at the railway station are evidently very zealous in their efforts to prevent liquor entering the King Country. On the morning I am writing about not only did they carefully examine the luggage of all the passengers, but they stopped a drunken man from continuing his journey. By" the bye, I did not see another man under the influence of liquor until Te Awamutu (on the other boundary of ' the' King Country) was reached. Beyond Mataroa some pretty bush is passed, but on reaching the Karioi plains there are simply miles and miles of bleak, desolate tussock land. Deserted camps, Avhere co-opera-tive labourers have flourished for a time and then moved on, mark the progress of tho construction of the line. As tho railhead is reached the traveller, , who may have become somewhat wearied by the monotonous sameness of the journey, wakes, up'to the fact that lie has not travelled in vain, for scene after scene oi beauty comes into view. ' As the train proceeds the bush, in all its virgin beauty, .gradually closes m upon the railway track, until the train is practically picking its way through huge trees and magnificent ferns, pungas, and undergrowth. At last steam is cub off and the train draws up at the northernmost station on1 the line. What a sight it is! Nothing like it can bo soen in any other part of the .Dominion. It, is one never to be forgotten, but alas (and fortunately) in a lew months the opportunity of witnessing it will have passed away. In the middle of the line and just in front of the engine stands a huge tree, which, immovable and impassive, seems to say i\ ith an imperial air—" Thus far and no farther.'' Tho engine bows its head/but as it thinks of the hand that has harnessed its fount of power it merely murmers. "• Thus far and no farther —just now."' Almost up to the right hand side of the carriages are the toweling trees of the forest, while the shrubbery and undergrowth are standing in their primeval glory. In a small clearing outside the station is a scenq of excitement. Five coaches, each with its four-in-hand, are drawn up waiting for the passengers who have come by tho train. Great is tho hurrying and scurrying! (Seats have bcs"n ' hoo-ked -an age-nt has seen to'that at ' Taihape—but each person is anxious to I know '' which is my coach? " Then.' thero is an excited confab as to whether box seats have been reserved, and so i forth. In the meantime luggage has | been transferred from the guard's van i to_the coach boot, and a hurried rush is I nuido to a room on the station piatiorm, whore a placard announces afternoon tea. Though it is very little alter noo.l, tea proves very acceptrable, and the travellers, refreshed and contented, clamber into their respective -conveyances. Pride oi pL-ree is if?giiv'en"~tiie^ I s^»oh •whicV-qarries His -\lujesty's m'a'iir and in a few minutes five v, hip-, are 'cracking, twenty horses aro Straining at^h'eir collars, a,nd a twenty* 'iiiilo "drive oi- § msqst unique nature is ! ,b'egun7 Wm&sAiQ\v£jxqfLfeis^vpnedi' up ! • I' sha'l^ no'f,, try :to \'de"smilfeH i llie beauties which Nature has 'strewn-'-lav-p ishly b/fore the eyes oy the traveller ; -'I could nfyj if I woukls'/Bul I must oj&yl fess to a" feeling of*sadness as I ga^OT" upon tho thousands and thousands of acres of glory penned up as it were in the slaughtering yards. Soon will the butchers go into those pens and, an. acre here and an acre there, the giants' \vill iall and their vestments; disappear in smoke. As the coach reaches the highest point of the road on© looks down upon a vast extent of forest, the appearance of which resembles nothing so much as an ocean in the moonlight. The ground is evidently hill and dale, and the tops of the trees rise and fall as it wero in billows. Clouds pass across tho sun, and the shadows skim the treo tops in a. wierdly fantastical waj*. But it not the scenery—find that is almost indescribably grand—which makes the drive memorable. It is the opportunity given to see the last of the co-ops.—a pliase of life which is rapidly drawing to a close. After leaving the railhead tl'fo traveller comes upon an entirely nG-n- world with a, people peculiarly its own. He finds himself in the midst of tent land, where the pioneers of civilisation arc .roughing it in order that others may travel in comfort andmaybo livo iv plenty on the land which is now wild and untouched. As the coach bowls along tho excellent road which winds its way through the bush, glimpses of towns in embryo are obtained. What are their destinies'? Perhaps wo would not smile at them " if wo only knew." Hero is a township the name of which Are do not hear. The main street is the coach read. On it aro several small huts, to go into which would necessitate stooping by men less stalwart than Sir Percy Blakeney. One is the leading hotel —temperance. of course, for is the town not in the King Country? It, or at any rate, one liko it, is the Harp of Erin, and tho proprietor beams upon the coach loads as tlioy go hurrying by. %< Hop beer sold here" does not tempt the travellers, and consequently mine host does not add to his day's takings. By I tlie way, hop beer must thrive wonderfully in this no-license district! No matter where one looks, " Hop beer sold here " is a sign shown prominently on tents and hut Avails. Tho sign writers on the Main Trunk perhaps would not satisfy an up-to-date art master, but tbpy certainly aichieve what an artist might not—their signs catch the eyes of the public, and that, after all, is the chief end of such art. The cynic may. be inclined to smile as he passes these hop beer advertisements, and think of words often used by the professional, conjuror—but there, the beauty and quaint-ness of the surroundings banish cynicism.

Alongside the hotel, which is also a store, is the township's general provider, who has a wonderful assortment in his little crib. Quaint indeed are these little pocket editions of business houses. Then there is l the residential portion. Hero are the tents where the workmen live. Each tent is supplied by the Public Works , Department, and beatrs the brand of the Broad Arrow. Usually tfois brand is looked at askance, but on the Main Trunk it is quite the thing. Tho tents are small, but some of the inhabitants have endeavoured to secure a littlo comfort. Their efforts have been in the direction of erecting t-ir> chimndes, and so making cooking operations more easy and pleasant than would otherwise be the case. No town, I>3 it ever so small, is complete with-

out a boarding-bouse, and, as the ' coaches pass ailong the road, quite a I number of tents are seen bearing t,ho sign '" Boarders taken in," one establishment announcing board and lodging at 17s 6d a week. " I wonder where they can put even one boairder ?" queries the traveller, but beiore an answer oin be given he is whirled halfway to the next township. Practically tho whole of the.population consists of men, but the traveller now and again comes upon evidences that brave-heart-ed women iiixve not flinched from following the., ''husbands into tlie wilds of tho island. As the ooach sweeps along a glimpse is '.caught.: of a clothes line laden with -'Uie week's wash, and through rise open dooo- of the tent or the wnuix. is^seen the- white tablerilobli on which a meal is tastefully laid. Peepin-g through the door is a toddler or a mother rocking her little one. Just a glimpse, but it is a touch of Nature. Hew dreary in comparison look the other tents! So the coach speeds on. AsfHoripito is reached rain falls in torrents. The coach from the Waimarino end meets ours. Like us, the passengers rare, hidden beneath umbrellas and wraps, and a very merry party they seem, their laughter ringing in the air. Horipito on a rainy day!- The ,saii*t»^xteserve us from tent residence there!' Now we see the Main Trunk workers- in a, different light. ATI work has been 'Stopped, and the men have coins into the " townships." Some are standing in tlie lee of their tents, sheltering 7rom the rain, and others are congregated in • their tents playing cards. An hour passes by, during which time innumerable camps a.re passed. Then, as we ileave the forest, tho rain clears away, and almost at the same moment • we.-, emerge on the Waimarino plains. We drive on, and in the distance see our goal, the Waimarino station, standing out prominently in the middle of a huge natural amphitheatre. En route to it we pass gangs of platelayers busily engaged laying the rails to the Ef.ua. Station, the next railhead, which will be reached in the course of a, few weeks. At 4.40 our coaches swing:'-"alongside the Waimarino Station, \v,here a train is in wiaiting. So ends a" drive which will always remain. a pleasant memory. From Waimairino we dash,downhill at a great speed through magnificent bush scenery; In places the line is a : triumphof engineering skill.' .Especially is this the case in regard; to tlie Riaurimu spiral, ■ the wondrousness of which has become a household word. Leaving R'aurimu, and still: passing through, glorious bush, the train speeds on past Oio and Owhango, and a couple of miles , f urthei" oil the Wanganud River is seen. Then: follows a .delightful journey. Day is drawing to a close, and. as Kakahi and vPiriaka; are passed tlie spirit of peace and repos©.seems to have, descended on. the, beautiful valley. Night has now folded the land ■in its soft embrace, and 'as we 'leave the train at I Tailmairiinmi--'lamps' have to be brought 1 into use. .'.. DifpSer;at Meredith' Ho-use is i followed by a saunter through the main street of the. go-ahead town, and. then slumber ends" an enjoyable day.

(To \>& continued.)