Crossing the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana

Imagine trailblazing a new route across the Southern Alps/Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. Conditions in the alpine region are ever-changing, at once clear and accessible then total white out and perilous. Legend has it that Raureka from Kāti Wairaki in the West Coast made the first crossing, heading east over the Alps into the Canterbury Plains. And she did it alone! More than 150 years later, gold fever struck the West Coast and the pressure was on to find the most direct route from the Waimakariri basin to the goldfields. The job was consigned to 22-year-old Arthur Dobson, inexperienced, but like Raureka, a brave explorer. 

Arthur sets out on horseback
Thomas Cass, the Chief Surveyor for Canterbury was determined to find a pass out of the Waimakariri watershed into the valleys running to the West Coast. Ultimately he wanted to build a road to transport supplies and collect gold from the goldfields. He consulted with Edward Dobson, who suggested his 22-year old surveyor son Arthur Dobson would be capable of the seemingly impossible task.  The year before, European explorers Jakob Lauper and John Whitcombe made the first traverse from Canterbury’s Rakaia River to the West Coast via Whitcombe Pass. Their written account reads as a tale of epic hardship and suffering.

Although young, Arthur had carried out an extensive survey of the West Coast in the early 1860s. He survived the rigours of bush surveying with the help of local Māori, whose language he learnt. In March 1864, Arthur set out on horseback from Cora Lynn Station with his 16-year-old brother Edward Henry.
     

Māori and their pathways
One of the earliest recordings of a crossing over the Alps was made by Raureka from Ngāti Wairangi from the West Coast around 1700. The story goes that Raureka left her home in the West Coast after a dispute. Travelling alone, she clambered over the Alps probably via Nōti Raureka/Browning Pass and eventually made her way down into the Rakaia River to the area around Temuka/Te Umukaha. She came bearing a toki pounamu (greenstone adze) and was instrumental in introducing Ngāi Tahu to this precious stone. She is remembered in the name Nōti Raureka/Browning Pass.

Ancestors of Ngāi Tahu regularly traversed the Southern Alps to collect pounamu from the West Coast. Their preferred route was over Harpers Pass/Nōti Hurunui, which starts near the Hurunui River in Canterbury and crosses a low saddle. The last part of the journey follows the Taramakau River to the West Coast. Surrounded in places by steep cliffs, this stretch of the route is very challenging on foot. Much easier to make your way down the river. Groups would construct mōkihi (raft) from rushes, which unlike canoes float in the water. The journey in these unsinkable rafts was only a matter of hours.

Ngāi Tahu ancestors ensured they were well equipped to make this journey. Guided by the stars and cloud formations, groups often brought supplies of preserved birds packed in kelp bags, and dried tuna (eels) and inanga (whitebait). Along the journey they would also replenish with fresh roots, berries and wildlife. They took several pairs of pāraerae (sandals pictured left) and often gaitors made from the leaves of tī kōuka (cabbage tree). For added protection, they wore rainproof capes, thatched from silver tussock or tikumu leaves.

Into the Ōtira Gorge
On the advice of the West Coast chief Tarapuhi (Ngati Waewae), Arthur Dobson (pictured left) travelled up the Waimakariri and into the valley of the Ōtira River. At the base of the mountain, the brothers abandoned their horses and continued on foot. They ascended through thick bush to the summit until they could look down into Ōtira Gorge. The view below was unbelievably daunting. A steep slope dropping away to yet another steep slope and then a gorge wedged between the mountains.

The descent into the gorge was rough going,  and at one place they had to make a ladder out of saplings to descend a bluff. Their faithful dog was lowered down in a sling. They waded through deep pools and clambered over huge boulders until they reached the open valley at the mouth of the gorge – and that was as far as they went. On his return to Christchurch, Arthur included a sketch of the pass in his report, which was later named after him.

Pressure mounts to find new route
By early 1865 gold fever had struck and and hordes of gold prospectors were heading to the West Coast.  The pressure was on to find a direct route to the goldfields.

John Hall, Secretary of Parks instructed his civil engineer Edward Dobson to further investigate the route first discovered by his son Arthur.  This time George Dobson (Arthur’s older brother) arrived at the newly-named Arthur’s Pass to take a closer look at Ōtira Gorge. But he too was pessimistic about this route.

‘It will be impractical to construct a line of road for horse traffic in the Ōtira Gorge, due to the precipitous nature of the hillsides…the cost of constructing even a horse track would be immense, and the road would require repairing every time the river flooded.’

Taming the gorge
Finally, Dobson senior set out to personally assess the situation. The prospect of getting a road down into the Ōtira Gorge would be extremely difficult, but eventually Edward and a team of engineers came up with a plan to take the road down the spur in a series of spectacular zigs and zags.

Edward anticipated the work would involve ‘about 90 chains of heavy rock cutting, but there is no real difficulty about the whole matter provided the necessary funds can be obtained'.  But conquering Ōtira Gorge was no easy task. More than a 1000 men worked through a bitter winter using explosives, hand tools and rock drills, eventually completing the road in 1866.

Twist of fate for Dobson family
The same year the road was completed, tragedy struck the Dobson family. In 1866, George was working on the Grey River when the notorious Burgess Gang mistook him for a gold buyer and shot and killed him.

Journeys across the new road
Pioneer William Cawley took the first stage coach service along the new pass. The journey from Christchurch to Hokitika took at least 36 hours in good weather and longer in bad weather.

But the ultimate dream was a rail link. By 1905, just 70kms of track was needed to join Ōtira in the west with Broken River in the east, including an 8.5km tunnel through the main divide between Ōtira and Arthur's Pass.

The tunnellers took 10 years to break through  - with the east and west sides meeting just 19mm off centre. In 1923 the tunnel was complete and the transalpine Midland Line came into operation.

Today the TranzAlpine transports sightseers over the pass in style, a world away from the often miserable conditions endured by the early explorers.