New Zealand Memories Issue 151

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FEATURE Workers outside the Homer Tunnel in about 1939. 38
FEATURE Building New Zealand’s Most Scenic Highway Gordon Campbell The construction of a road through Fiordland’s rugged terrain opened up one of New Zealand’s scenic gems to visitors from around the world. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington NZ. Ref; 1/2-009020-F Have you ever travelled the road to Milford Sound? Did you give a thought to the workers who built the road and the Homer Tunnel? The opening of this route is the result of hard work and sacrifice, by men living and working in a geographically and socially challenging environment. The majesty and grandeur of Milford Sound has attracted tourists since the late 1800s. It was initially accessible only by sea. The discovery of McKinnon Pass, by explorer Quintin McKinnon, led to the opening of a walking track. McKinnon marketed the area and guided parties along the 53 kilometre track, from the head of Lake Te Anau, to Milford Sound. In 1890, Donald Sutherland, who had lived an almost hermit-like lifestyle at the head of the Sound, opened a hotel to accommodate the steady stream of tourists who walked the track. Milford Sound’s reputation as a tourist destination grew, and the government quickly saw the tourism potential of this unique region. In 1901, the Government Tourist Bureau took over the management of the walking tours along the track, and established tour boats on the Sound itself. Milford Sound’s increasing popularity led to pressure for road access, originally intended to run from Lake Wakatipu through the Greenstone valley to the Hollyford valley. The Upper Hollyford valley ends at the Homer Saddle, named after its discoverer, William Homer. Homer promoted the idea for a tunnel, large enough to accommodate a horseback rider, to pass beneath the saddle and link the Hollyford valley, to the Cleddau valley, which ran down to Milford Sound. In the late 1920s it was decided to construct the road from Te Anau via the Eglinton valley. Work was organised by the Labour Department as a Public Works Department project, set up to provide relief work for the unemployed during the Depression. The pay was meagre, but as an incentive, the workers on these PWD relief schemes formed work gangs which were contracted for sections of work, paid for on a piecework basis. On good weeks, this system enabled the workers to earn more than the standard 1/6d (15 cents) per hour that was paid to general labourers at the time. However, these workers were required to pay for their own fares to get to and from the work site, as well as the cost of their electricity, coal and wood fuel. These, together with canteen and store purchases, were all deducted from their pay. If wet weather meant work had to stop, then the men didn’t get paid. The work consisted mainly of digging spoil out with picks and shovels and wheelbarrowing it to form the road. Extra barrows ensured there was no standing around waiting for a barrow to be filled. It was heavy physical work, six days a week. As the road progressed up the Eglinton valley, tall beech trees were cut down with crosscut saws, the trunks winched aside and stumps blasted out. The trunks were milled, initially using saw pits, but later sawmills, and the timber was used to build bridges. One of the most challenging sections of the road was the descent from The Divide, at the head of the Eglinton valley, to the Hollyford valley below. This three-kilometre stretch had to be carved into the bluffs of the steep valley wall. The workers drilled holes into the rocks with sharp steel spikes and used dynamite to blast a route. The blast debris was wheeled away in barrows. Work camps were set up at intervals along the route. A large camp, called Marian Camp, was built where the Lower Hollyford valley meets the Upper Hollyford valley. The camp consisted of tent huts, a butcher’s shop, bakehouse, cookhouse, Post Office, first aid room, workshop and YMCA hut for recreation. This was the main camp until Homer Camp, which also had a bathhouse and a school, was built once construction work began on the tunnel. The workers’ huts were very 39
Page 1 and 2: APPETISER Egmont Railway Rail enthu
Page 3 and 4: Editor Wendy Rhodes Graphic Design
Page 5 and 6: WORLD WAR II US Marine Wayne Harter
Page 7 and 8: WORLD WAR II 7
Page 9 and 10: MEASUREMENTS 15
Page 11: The 1908 Posties 37
Page 15 and 16: INDEX and GENEALOGY LIST Minister o

New Zealand Memories Issue 151

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