It is under the direction of the genial Mr Hugh Craig, proprietor of Cobb and Co., who has worked for the company since he was 15 years of age, beginning with Messrs Lee, Cole and Hoyt (afterwards H. Hoyt and Co), then under Messrs John Chaplin and Job Wain, well known in connection with Wain's Hotel, Dunedin, before taking over the business himself in 1868.
The coach route through the goldfields is nearly 300 miles long. At present the run is from Lawrence to Queenstown (137 miles), branching off at Cromwell to Pembroke and Hawea (40 miles), Queenstown to Pembroke via the Crown Range and Cardrona (40 miles) and Kokonga to Naseby, Blackstone Hill, St Bathans, Cambrian, Ophir, Alexandra and Clyde (80 miles).
Some idea of the extent of the operations will be gained from the fact that the company is also involved in a major portion of the livery business on the goldfields.
To maintain the business efficiently a permanent stud of 150 horses is kept, the coaches alone requiring 70 horses every day, there being no less than nine stages, with, of course, an equal number of drivers and coaches.
The quality of the stud scarcely needs mention, as they are a source of admiration to all who have travelled on any of Craig and Co's routes, and, indeed, finer horses cannot be got, or Mr Craig would have them, a fact that is also proved by the splendid punctuality kept up on all stages over roads that, in many cases, are heavy both winter and summer, and in no case are by any means easy or free from difficulties.
To those unfamiliar with this mode of travel, herewith is a description of a coach of the typical Cobb and Co pattern: It has one box-seat to seat two passengers and room for four inside, as well as being loaded with luggage and parcels.
The "boot" at the rear is filled, on the roof are carried many packages, and mail-bags and sundry newspapers go under the box-seat.
The salient feature of the Cobb's coach is its short wheel base - the back wheels are close to the front ones, which makes easier pulling for the horses, but a very uneasy vehicle for passengers.
During the time of the Hoyt-Chaplin regime the coach route to the goldfields was quite different from the present and Mr Craig has many experiences of those days to relate.
The line ran from Dunedin to Clyde via Palmerston and Pigroot, and Dunedin to Lawrence, and the state of the roads, I am informed, might be better imagined that described.
Practically a driver had to find his own road, and the greater part of the route was innocent of road metal - the name of Macadam being unknown in the land. There were no bridges over either the Molyneux or Kawarau and culverts over creeks were unheard of.
Mr Craig tells me that at that time he has had to cross the creek in the short distance between Evans Flat and the Big Hill (under three miles) no less than six times and the waggoners reckoned it a good day's travelling from the Beaumont to Raes Junction.
At that time the road from Roxburgh up-country was not considered fit for waggon traffic.
Mr Craig has many anecdotes to tell of his vicissitudes as a whip - as, for instance, when he had an adventure which nearly cost him his life, being almost frozen to death.
He had started away from Clyde at 4 o'clock in the morning with a bitterly severe frost on, and when a mile and a half from Kemp's Cape Broom Hotel, at Bald Hill Flat he became unconscious, being literally frozen.
Fortunately, the horses came on at a steady pace, and brought him safely into Bald Hill Flat.
Here it was soon seen that something was wrong, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the reins were taken from Mr Craig's hands.
He was taken inside and restorative measures applied, and it was characteristic of the man that on his recovery he started away and took his coach to Lawrence and an emergency occurring there he returned up-country soon after his arrival, being on the box in all 24 hours on that occasion before he got a rest.
"And," added Mr Craig when telling me the story, "had I had another quarter of a mile to go before reaching Bald Hill Flat on that frosty morning I would have 'handed in my checks' for a certainty.