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Lewis Pass
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A route for Canterbury Ngai Tahu
as they journeyed to Westland for greenstone, yet neglected in gold-rush
times, the Lewis Pass was not roaded until as late as 1937. It marks the
point on the Main Divide that separates the Waiau from the Maruia watershed.
European explorers of the area, from 1860, were Lewis, Maling, Stuart,
Travers and Rochfort. The route lies through the Lewis Pass National
Reserve, an area of outstanding beauty and with some splendid tramps. |
Routes to the greenstone
| The Ngai Tahu of Canterbury used a number of routes across the ranges to
the greenstone country, among them the Lewis Pass, Arthur's Pass, Whitcombe
and Browning Passes, Harper Pass (beyond Lake Sumner) and the Amuri Pass. To
prevent their feet from being torn on broken rock and by the barbs of
matagouri, they wore sandals of plaited flax. For food they carried fernroot,
kauru (a sweet substance extracted from the roots of ti tree) and kumara,
but also relied on eels, weka and pigeons they could catch on the way. For
the return jouney there was kai tangata (human flesh), carried by slaves who
themselves were destined for the oven when their usefulness was over. |
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