Went on to Greymouth arriving there a little after 6 pm. Raining heavy by the time we got there; stopped at the Albion. Late night, a lot of people about the streets; although raining heavy went out & sent a wire to Maud & bought some bread etc.

Sunday 25th
Still raining heavy the river rising fast. No travelling today. Rang up Feltons; Mr, Mrs & Laurie came round to the Hotel about 11 am; had a great talk about old times. Went for a walk down to the tip (of the breakwater) in the afternoon; sea very rough; 2 boats outside; been there since Saturday.

Monday 26th
Still raining so no chance of getting away; river still very high; wash-out on the Railway line between Grey and Hokitika.

Tuesday 27th
Still raining but promise of better weather; river falling a lot; sea still rough. Several of the menfolk none too well; blame the Chinese soup. Uncle George, Alton & Tommie went for a walk over to Cobden to see the Aviary which is a short distance from the bridge. Father went out to see the land agent; Norman stopped by the fire; we 3 womenfolk went down again to the tip; it was a grand sight; black heavy clouds in the south; a rain storm out at sea gradually getting brighter in the West; with big breakers coming in all along the coast & breaking over the end of the tip. Nearly every night we played euchre.

Wednesday 28th
A beautiful morning, not a cloud in the sky. Started again on our trip; left about 9am. Nothing very exciting; stopped & had dinner near a waterfall used for driving a mill of some sort. Stopped at Ross. Not being able to get accommodation at Ferguson's stayed at the Empire Hotel. Mr Hill (who used to be in the Fruit Packers) came up with a car load of ladies for afternoon tea; said we would not be able to get through & everyone seemed of the same opinion but we did not turn back. We had a grand view of Mt Cook when we left Hokitika for some distance. Got some meat pies & buns there for our dinner. The boys tried to get some fishing lines but owing to being half holiday could not get any.

Thursday 29th
Left Ross about 8am arriving at Fergusons at 8.30. Got a bottle of milk & a man, horse & trap to pull us through the Waitaho river which is about a mile from the house. Mr Ferguson Jnr drove the horse & trap. Mr & Mrs Burroughs Jnr were there first & had got the side chair & Mrs Burroughs over. They then took us 3 women over in the trap. Father, Alton, & Norman walking over the suspension bridge which was some distance down. Uncle George & Tommie stopping in their cars to steer them. They put aprons on the cars & stopped up all parts they could so that the water could not get into them. The river was deep & came in the cars but did not hurt anything. They had put the luggage up on the back seat. One car came through first & then Uncle George's (so far so good).

Waiting for assistance to cross the river

Very interesting all the way - grand mountain & forest scenery. We passed a lot of Jobs Comforters, only one man giving us hope of getting (there) - the head road man Glass telling us we had no hope of getting through as there was a big washout further on. However the men folk said we would go on & try it.

We did get through after a lot of work. A short distance before the washout, we got into a river. Our car went through all right but Uncle George's got stuck & it took our car & ten men to pull her out - Iva steering. At the washout all hands went to work cutting down stumps, putting fern branches in the gully etc. Our car started first but was bogged almost directly. When out of that she slipped off a root on to a stump which had to be cut away. Fortunately the road men had left 2 axes & shovels etc. which we made good use of. We got out all right & hurried on having another river to cross - the Waitangi. It is a very rough river & owing to there being such a lot of rain was worse than usual. The man that took us over had a good horse - very fast & fiery. He took all but the drivers of the cars over in the cart first. It was the roughest ride I have had for many a day. However we all got over safely & hurried on our journey passing another lake - the Wahapo.

It was getting dark & we did not know the road so we stopped at the accommodation house at the Okarito Forks kept by a man mamed Heveldt. His wife was away but they made us very comfortable & we were very glad to get by a nice big fire.

Beside the lake

Well one cannot describe the scenery - mountain lake & forest - it needs to be seen to be realized. We were very fortunate getting such clear weather. After passing the lake a short distance we came to the Totara River which proved another stumbling block. After a lot of manoeuvring we got the cars through but the passengers were on the wrong side. Consequently we had to be taken pickey back (piggy back). Tommy carried me - Alton Nurse - Uncle George Iva - Tommie Norman. Father had his boots off & walked across. However after all these difficulties we arrived at Waiho Gorge a little before 12 very glad to get there. Well done the Dodges. We had lunch at 1pm & then we walked up to the sulphur springs about 1 1/2 miles from the house. We had to walk over a suspension bridge which I did not like - only 2 being allowed on at the time. However I got over all right - Iva going with me.

This was the last page of the notebook so there is no more information about the Franz Josef Glacier.

The diary and the photos were supplied by Elizabeth Arnold, Amuri Hunt's niece.