A BEAUTIFUL RUN.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume XXIV, 29 December 1926, Page 5

A BEAUTIFUL RUN.

CIRCUIT OF WAIMATE. A very interesting descriptive article of a motoring tour round Waimate appeared in the motoring section of the Christehurcfi “Press” on Thursday last. It reads: This is not an account of marching round an ancient walled city; it is some record of a circular drive round an interesting little borough in the shelter of the Hunter Hills. From Waimate we turn northwest towards the hills and in five miles are at Gunn’s Corner, 500 ft above the sea, overlooking the beautiful Waituna and Hook downs, with Mt. Studholme, cloud capped, above us, and the blue Pacific agleam far to the east. Downward and seaward through the gorse-hedged roadways all too swiftly we pass, and are at sea level winding through the rich agricultural lands of Studholme and Willowbridge. Here grow the prolific potatoes and the monster mangolds, overshadowed By wheat six and seven feet high. Silted down from the Hunter Range through the centuries, the black loam in many feet of depth, forms an inexhaustible storehouse of germinating power, which makes this a wonderland of agricultural fertility. Southward to the Waihao River we traverse this fertile area, and at the Main road cross the Waihao bridge and turn west through the Waihao valley. With the hills on our right, we have on our left the famous Waikakahi Estate, dotted with prosper-ous-ldoking homesteads and rich with verdure. At McCulloch’s Bridge we pause and survey that stretch of swimming water which make> this spot the centre for the aquatic sports of the district, then crossing the bridge, continue u'p the river. To right and left are weird limestone formations that invite closer acquaintance, and suggest caves and exploration. Fording the stream, to the discomfiture of lurking trout, we come into some very beautiful river scenery as the road rises and falls along the Waihao towards the Forks. At Waihao Forks we cross two bridges and the Waihao Downs railway line, and turn eastward to pass through the glacier-cut gorge which cleaves the range. With a narrow floor occupied by a stream, a railway and a road, and between hillsides twelve hundred feet in altitude, it winds for three beautiful and inspiring miles. Bush and flax elothe the hillsides, wlfere rugged rocks leave possible a foothold, and the tawny tussoek high up is reflected in the water below -with the gleam of old gold. Out of the gorge and clear of the hills we sight again the landmark of the wheat silos, and soon run up the tar-sealed main street of Waimate. Here we stop at Seddon Square to use the convenient gasrings for the boiling of our picnic kettle. Over our afternoon tea we call down blessings on the head of the man whose thought for others lined out so varying and beautiful a forty-mile eirele for the passing visitor.