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West Coast is the best coast? pt.1

Well... for a vacation, but definitely not a staycation

By Blackaptur Photography

November 16^th, 2019

{Layers}

...Take the journey with me, from Coast to Coast

Driving from coast to coast over Porters Pass, and at the halfway point, travelling through Arthur's Pass, is never a chore, and no matter the weather - it is nothing short of beautiful...

The pass is named after Sir Arthur Dudley Dobson, who led the first party of Europeans across the pass in 1864. In 1863, Dobson went to the mostly unexplored West Coast of the South Island for seven months of survey work. His area of work extended from the Grey River to Abut Head, and inland up to the Main Divide.

Arthur Dobson was commisioned in 1864 to find out whether there is a suitable pass from the Waimakariri river to the West Coast. George and Arthur Dobson set out in March 1864, later to be joined by their brother Edward at Craigieburn. While George surveyed road lines there, Edward and Arthur proceeded to explore the high country. On the advice of West Coast Māori chief Tarapuhi, they found a pass that steeply descended to what became known as Otira; the route had long been used by Māori for trading pounamu (Greenstone). Arthur prepared a report, which included a sketch of the unnamed pass, and presented it to the crown engineers.

Soon after, the discovery of gold triggered the West Coast Gold Rush. The provincial engineer, their father Edward Dobson, was commissioned to examine every possible pass to the West Coast from the watersheds of the Waimakariri, Taramakau and Hurunui Rivers. After finishing his examination, he declared that "Arthur's pass" was by far the most suitable to get to the gold fields on the West Coast. The provincial government decided that a road was to be built between Christchurch and Hokitika, a distance of 251 km, and Edward Dobson was put in charge of the project. The road was opened on 20 March 1866, and a small unsealed stretch of it remains as a Scenic Route - this is known as the 'Old Christchurch Road'. The alpine pass became commonly known as Arthur's Pass, and has lent its name to the entire area - Arthur's Pass National Park and the village, Arthur's Pass.

{Otira}

The road across Arthur’s Pass was built in less than a year (1865), during a bitterly cold winter. A thousand men with axes, picks, shovels, crowbars and wheelbarrows, rock drills and explosives worked in the rugged terrain. They would often spent a whole day clearing snow, only to find the next morning they had to do it over again.

Over 100 years later, the Ōtira viaduct was built to replace this section of road, and workers again suffered through wind, rain and snow to get the job done. Started in January 1998 it was completed two years later in November 1999; one worker died during the project.