A Mountain Playground for the People.

Ever since the railway to the West Coast first penetrated the mountain mass of the Southern Alps, the people of the South Island have taken an increasing interest in the Otira Gorge. Particularly to Canterbury has this region of glorious forests and snow clad ranges proved fascinating, for it presents the most vivid contrast imaginable to the placid peacefulness of the fertile plains from which the residents of the eastern province draw their never-failing supplies of “prime Canterbury” muton, Algerian oats, and sixty-bushel-to-the-acre wheat.

Realising the scenic possibilities of the route, the railways have made the Otira trip peculiarly their own. After trying out the possibilities of the Gorge as a tit-bit for travellers in a tentative way, and finding that it made a positive appeal to excursionists, the Department launched out boldly in a comprehensive campaign to make the Otira outing the most popular in the Dominion. And it has succeeded so well that capacity trains of four or five hundred passengers can be run almost once a fortnight throughout the year from Christchurch to Arthur's Pass and Otira. Thorough organisation, with the idea of helping and pleasing the travellers constantly in mind, is one of the principal factors in securing the success of these excursions.