Page:Gillespies Beach Beginnings • Alexander (2010).pdf/74

 onto guest’s beds. The old adage, “necessity is the mother of invention” applied.

Julia’s hospitality was commented on in 1906 when Maud Moreland wrote about her visit to the area in her book, Through South Westland. Maud reached the homestead after a coach journey to Ross from Hokitika, followed by an 80 mile trek by horse or cart over a clearing that was little better than a track. She was full of praise for the welcome given to her party by Julia. In the absence of a hotel it would have been unthinkable for travellers to be denied accommodation in remote areas and residents learned to cope as best they could. Guests were given the best of what was available.

When the road was put through as far as Waiho, (Franz Josef), stores could also be packed through from there by horse. This applied also to mail. Fred Pamment used a spring cart to hold his precious cargo when the road petered out at Franz. In 1927, once motor traffic could get through to Weheka, supply problems eased somewhat, particularly once the Waikukupa and Omoeroa rivers were bridged.

Just as ferrymen were appointed to assist travellers across the main rivers in the early years, so also, when later bridges were destroyed or made impassable due to extreme floods, cars and vans were taken across on a pontoon with a thick wire cable strung across the water to keep it on course.

The road south of Ross would take several decades to complete. Road gangs were a common sight in these years as road access was gradually improved. Many worked in pairs and camped in huts or tents close to where they were working, not a comfortable way to make a living in an environment known for its wet weather. The work attracted single men, quite a number of whom had once been miners. They became identities in their own right, well-known in each district. Using pick and shovel and wheelbarrow plus their