Waimarino Forest.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIX, Issue 17, 23 April 1913, Page 35

Waimarino Forest.

A Living Sea.—Home of the Graceful Rimu. — Ohakune and Rangataua.— Some Remarkable Timber Figures.

THE Waimarino Forest is one of the most impressive sights in the Dominion. The forests of the far north, with greyboled kauri giants towering over everything else, are nobler, but they laek the symmetry and immensity of the almost uninterrupted living sea that sweeps 60 miles from Taumarunui to Karioi near Waiouru, and spreads from the banks of the Wanganui in waves that reach halfway up lofty Ruapehu—right up to the line where vegetation ends and the kingdom of the Snow King begins. For years, except on the Wanganui River side, this forest was practically terra incognita, owing to its inaccessibility, and its wonderful silences were only broken by the eall of the tui, the shriek of the kaka, and the coo of the wild pigeon. The tangle and beauty of its dense undergrowth cannot be imagined by those who only know the more open bush of the north. From some high point of vantage round the slopes of

Ruapehu the forest spreads like an immense green carpet, closely-woven. The preponderance of rimu trees with their weeping foliage, gives to Waimarino a softness and delicacy of contour that is not found anywhere else in the Dominion. Jt is only a few years since the co-opera-tive gangs tore a way for the Main Trunk line—a long, sinuous gash, with here and there a gaping void, where axe ami fire-stick had been given freer license to prepare a p.ace for a station or one of the many townships that have sprung up right in the heart of the forest but already tremendous inroads have been made on the glory that was Waimarino. Of course, these things must be, but before it is too late the

people—it is no use leaving these things to any government—should see that not a tree more than is necessary should be sacrificed. Many acres round the slopes of Ruapehu have been rightly reserved, but there are dozens of other spots here and there that should be kept sacred. It would be no deprivation to miller or settler, and posterity will rise up and call us blessed. Ruapehu to Taranaki. One of the finest sights in the North Island is obtained when|you|stand on the Makatote viaduct and gaze out over this glorious sea of forest trees, dark green in the foreground, and shading away to purples and ending in faint blues on the skyline. Eastward from the viaduct runs the Makatote canyon, at the head of which rises towering Ruapehu, the eternal snows frosting his many peaks By simply turning on your heel and looking across the living sea at your feet, a perfect cone, splashed with streaks of white, looms up due west. This is Tara-

naki, or, as it is known to pakehas, Mount Egmont. The Maori legend has it that at one time Taranaki stood in the middle of the Island, with the rest of his brethren, Ruapehu ami the other giants, until there was a quarrel over a love affair. Taranaki tore himself away and went crashing down to the sea. Lake Rotoaira is the spot where he once stood, and the Wanganui River runs in the track of the irate lover, and just below Ta lima riuiui there may be seen to this day two huge round boulders “The 'Tears of Taranaki ” which he shed when he looked back. The legend is a (plaint conceit, and as you stand on Makatote viaduct, gazing on the (*stranged brothers, von are forced to

admit that the Maori may have been a savage, but he was also an artist. Another good viewpoint where Ruapehu and Taranaki are both in sight in fine weather is on the Karioi Plains, just before the train pulls into W aiouru station. “Half-way House.” One of the most interesting places on the line that runs through the Waimarino is Ohakune. All travellers by the Main Trunk know Ohakune as the ‘‘halfway house” between Auckland and Wellington. As such it has an important and imposing railway station, with 41 large staff to deal with the heavy traffic. The station also has the distinction of having last year handled the largest amount of timber shipped from any railway station in the Dominion, the total reaching the enormous amount of over 19.000,000 ft. Gamman and Co., the well-known sawmillers, have a large up-to-date mill close to the station, and there are mills practically from Ohakune to Raetihi—all the produce of which passes through the Ohakune station. Ohakune township proper is a mile and a half from the station to the west, but a second township, called Ohakune East, is springing up close to the railway, and recent building has tended to close up the gap. Along the fine new road from the township to the station a number of well-built villas and cottages have sprung up during the past eighteen months on the Government sections. There are still a number of vacant sections. and it is said that for some reason

or other the Government is not prepared to dispose of any more just at present. At least, this was the a:iswrr given when a site was sought on this road for a Methodist church. Like so maiiv of the Main Trunk townships, Ohakiine’s present prosperity is bound up with the timber. The figures quoted above show to what extent milling is carried on in the vicinity. Ohakune looks forward to an agricultural and pastoral career when the timber is exhausted, and has alreadv made a modest start, the Ruapehu Cheese factory. of which Mr. Hugh Trevor is manager, turning out about 25 tons of excellent cheese, some of which is placed on the London market at a satisfactory

figure. In connection with the matter of Ohakune and a dairying future, it han been mentioned more than om-e that the district has a long winter, but there is no reason why, with scientific methods and growing winter feed, Ohakune should not take its proper place among the agricultural districts of Ihe Dominion. It has one great asset, accessibility, which counts for a lot in these days of keen competition. Civic Enterprise. Those who have had the guidance of the public affairs of Ohakune which has been a borough for two vears now have brought confidence and enthusiasm to their task, so that it is not surprising that the town has sanctioned a loan of £31.000 for installation of electric light and power £7,829, street improvements £19.900, municipal buildings £O5O. drainage £5.455. and water supply £7.840 a fairly comprehensive scheme for a borough with a population of about 1.400. It is proposed to generate electricity by using the Mangawhero Stream, and Mr. 11. W. ( limit*, the Council's consulting engineer, has figured out that the electric light and power proposition would show a profit even on the first year's working. In Mr. T. 11. Kiely (the mayor) the borough has the right stamp of man to keep Ohakiine’s claims to the front, and the Chamber of Commerce -another body full of enthusiasm for the district's future is presided over by another publicspirited citizen. Mr. I*. .1. Dunne, the proprietor of the local journal.

Tlie Roof of the Island. Most people know Otakunc as one of the starting points for tin* ascent of Ruapehu, the other points on the western side being lloropito and Rangataua. The tracks are fairly good, and by ap proaching the Monarch of the North Island (9.175 ft from this side the ascent can be accomplished with comfort in a day and a half, though it has frequently been done in tin* day. That, however, is rushing it. ami there is too milch to see for such hast\ scrambling. ’There is no doubt that this mountain will heroine the playground for thoiii*amls of North Islanders when it gets better known. The air up there is magnificent 1\ bracing, even in the height of summer, and what

with Ruapehu, and the neighbouring active volcano, Ngaurulioe (7,515 ft and Tongariro (6,488 ft there is variety enough to fill in the longest holiday for botanist, geologist, or the lover of Nature in her majestic moods. So far Ruapehu has been given a wide berth in tile chill of winter, when he is clothed from peak to base in a shining white mantle; but as soon as New Zealanders

realise the delights of ski-ing and luging, his western slopes will be even more popular in winter than in summer. These slopes are ideally suited for these winter sports, for which thousands llock to Switzerland every year.

In the meantime there should be no delay in improving the tracks to the mountain, and erecting proper huts to take the place of the tents put up by the

generosity of Ohakune citizens. Considering what the Government has done for other mountains, including Mt. Egmont, it would surely be good policy to do something for Ruapehu. In connection with the Ohakune Chamber of Com-

merce, there is a sub-committee to deal with matters affecting the mountain, and it is to be hoped the members will not rest until something is done. Ruapehu will be one of the finest assets this part of the Main Trunk line possesses. There is also no doubt that many northern people will come up to this extensive plateau, roughly 3,000 ft above sea level, of which Ohakune is about the centre, during the hot summer months. A finer recuperating ground could not be found. Rangataua. Much that could be said about Ohakune might also be said of Rangataua, two miles further south. As a matter of fact, the railway buildings should have been placed at Rangataua, which is on a splendid level stretch, instead of at Oha-

kune, where a hollow had to be filled in at enormous expense, and even now trains have to leave the station on an up-grade whichever way they leave. Rangataua lives on timber, and, in addition to the extensive mill and yards of the Rangataua Timber Company right in the township, it has the works of the Powell Process Company there also. The Powell Company treats timber with a saccharine

substance, which materially adds to the life of a timber and enables what were formerly considered inferior sorts to be

used in work where durability its essential. The plant alone cost €17,000. Enormous Timber Output. Every few miles along the line, and wherever there is a road good enough to cart on, sawmills have sprung up like mushrooms. If you cannot see the engine-stack belching blue smoke. or the white spurt of the exhaust steam show-

ing up against the green trees, you gen erally hear the vindictive saws shrieking their way ruthlessly through log after log. The mills vary from the primitive concern sheltered under a few sheets of corrugated iron, its asthmatic engine slowing down and coughing ominously when the saws strike a specially tough trunk, to. the up-to-date outfit where the log is hardly touched by hand after it has been felled, everything being done by machinery, which has now reached a state of perfection that would strike the old pit sawyer as being little short of magic. Most of the milling is done between Taihape and. say, Waimarino railway station, and in this area the output reaches the enormous total of 55.000.000 feet a year a shade oxer four and a-half million feet every month. To mill this quantity means the distribution of something like €125,000 a year, and the

Railway Department receives in freight alone probably £70,000. It is figures like these that bring home to one w-hat the Main Trunk really represents, and why Auckland went ahead so much after this important line of communication was opened up. The timber milled in the Waimarino is rimu. matai, and white pine, the rimu preponderating. At Horo■pito recently a sawmill has been erected by Atliy and Co. to deal with a large •area of silver pine timber which has been unexpectedly discovered on the slopes of Ruapehu.

When it is known that the output of the mills from Waimarino station to Mangapehi in the month is equal to, if not greater, than the quantity quoted above, it will be seen what an important part the timber industry plays in the prosperity of this big stretch of countrv.