Page:Picturesque Dunedin.djvu/306

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
278
PICTURESQUE DUNEDIN.

watering place, to which dignity it may some day attain in the distant future.

At Brighton there is a good country accommodation house, where a plain, substantial repast can be obtained, and the water is first-class. Here, too, a pre-arrangement can be made for a change of horses, as the journey going and coming is rather too severe a tax on the willing steeds.

The farthest away headland within the range of vision is the Nugget Point, south of the Clutha River, which is so prominent as to shut out everything beyond from view. Nearer at hand the Wangaloa stream empties itself into the sea, and still carrying the eye northward, Quoin Point and the Tokomairiro River, with its small island rock, can be descried, and passing Akatore we see the Taieri Mouth, which is the limit of our journey. Having arrived at the south bank of the river, whilst the horses are having a spell, the man in charge of the punt, who is one of the oldest residents in the Province, will convey us safely across to the opposite side for a trifle, and, if inclined to listen, will tell some reminiscences of the past, interesting in the extreme. We are now landed on the north side of the Taieri, where a few scattered houses can be seen. This is called the Township of Hull, at present, and likely long to remain, in embryo, although the discovery of a large deposit of the black oxide of manganese may add a few souls to its present limited population. Looking up the river and on its overhanging hills on both sides, new and distinct sources of enchantment will be opened up to view, whose attractions will be visited on our next excursion.

But we must retrace our steps, so coming back to Brighton the return journey to Dunedin should be varied by taking the main south road up the Kaikorai Valley instead of the way we came. By so doing an easier route is obtained, and we pass close to nearly the whole of the busy industrial hives which we saw from the top of the upper Green Island on the beginning of our journey.

Leaving Green Island Borough behind, we pass these various works in rapid succession till we reach the top of Look-out Point, and after a glimpse is obtained of the Industrial School, we descend quickly through the Caversham Valley, and passing the now unoccupied Immigration Barracks and the