There were no sealed roads in those days but the road to Eskdale was reasonably good, until it started to rain and the road became greasy. The metal gave way to plain clay and he was forced to put on the chains.
Everything was going to schedule until they came over the top of the Titiokura mountain where they noticed by the tyre marks that there was a car not far ahead of them. There was a steady downpour and the road was becoming treacherous.
All at once Mrs Gillespie shouted, “Look there is a car over the bank.” In fact, there was a car door hanging on the fence at the roadside and some 300 yards over a steep bank was a car with two people waving and shouting. Luggage and bits and pieces were strewn all the way down the bank.
Gillespie and his brother-in-law scrambled down the bank to Mr and Mrs Gleeson of Napier, unhurt after their mishap. The Gleesons wanted to be taken back to Te Pohue but as the Gillespies were going north and had a full car already, Mr Gillespie offered to stop at the next telephone and ring Te Pōhue, requesting they send a buggy and pair to the rescue. It appeared the accident had occurred when the car slid off the road into the water table.
It was still raining heavily so they were thoroughly soaked, but their troubles were not over — just before they reached the hotel with the telephone, they were blocked by another car stuck in the middle of the road. The axe and spade came into use. They jacked the car up and cut a supply of manuka to spread along the track. They succeeded in getting the vehicle on its way and they continued their interrupted journey, having sent a telephone message to Te Pōhue just before closing time.
By this time it was too late to carry on over the hills so they decided to pull in for the night at the Tarawera Hotel. Because the hotel was full, the men had to bed down in the corridor, but the women did have a small box room to themselves, and arrangements were made to dry their clothes.
Their intention was to continue the journey the next day, but were told some parties had been waiting a fortnight for the weather to clear and the road to become passable.
The rain poured down all night but, despite the hotel proprietor saying they would not get halfway up the hill from the hotel, they made it to the top in low gear.
The next 7 miles were through bush and was at best a bullock track with deep ruts and potholes filled with criss-crossed manuka, but it was necessary to drive in the ruts because without them the car would have slid over the bank. It was a nightmare in low gear all the way until they reached the Rangitāiki plains where there was no formed road, but they travelled on solid pumice, using one of the three tracks available.
It was still raining heavily, but they stopped and boiled the billy and admired the herds of wild horses grazing the plains.
On leaving Taupo they were on bad roads again, ploughing through clay, mush and slush into ruts ankle deep at times, with the engine tray hitting the road pulling them up sharply. It was mostly low-gear work at slow speeds and as it was getting dark, they wondered whether they would make their destination that evening. By Tīrau it was completely dark but as they did not fancy spending the night in the car they pushed on and secured accommodation at a hotel and a garage for the car, where there were many other cars just as plastered with mud and clay as theirs; even to the number plates being obscured.
Next day they had travelled about a mile when the engine began to boil. This was the first sign of any trouble and Gillespie was concerned because he had no knowledge of engines, so they stopped frequently for a quarter of an hour to let the engine cool down.
The rain had lightened to a drizzle but the state of the road had not improved. They had passed through Te Awamutu and Kihikihi, when on one of their compulsory stops a wagon came in sight and they were able to get directions to the Lews’ farm, their destination, having first stopped to get water from the creek to top up the radiator.
They arrived at 8am in time for breakfast. It took until lunchtime to clean the car. The cause of the heating was that the radiator was a solid block of clay and no air could get through.
It was Christmas Eve and they all had a merry time, but they still had the daunting thought of the return journey.
