Notes

Routes over the Takaka Hill have varied since surveyor Charles Heaphy and his party first recorded the crossing in 1843, and this book outlines the changes from the first rough walking tracks to the sealed and well marked state highway today's travellers are familiar with. The geology, flora and fauna of the hill, the history of its mail coaches and services cars and the engineering challenges of the last few decades all have their place in this illustrated history, but the real focus of the story is on the people on the Hill, the roadmen, the drivers, the farmers, the quarrymen and the families who chose to live on the marble mountain. Includes bibliographical references (p. 176-177) and index.