Lake Hawea

Thursday 5th April




A quiet day. Instead of running up kilometers and running down the petrol tank, we walked by the lake. We were impressed by its clear water. (Those stones are all under water.) A little later Doug tried spinner fishing in the Hawea River with the usual lack of luck. It was so nice to find river access via a gate with a 'Welcome' sign instead of the usual North Island 'No Trespassing'.



The trees are very beautiful and autumn colours are everywhere. This camping ground is very laid back and simple compared to the Arrowtown one. The sites are bigger, too.

Arrowtown to Lake Hawea

Wednesday 4th April

Another freezing morning get up - 100m trek in jandals to the shower block - musn't complain; it's dry, and the day was beautiful once the sun sneaked up over the surrounding hills. The South Island is certainly getting the best weather.

We packed up the tent after breakfast, and loaded up. The stuff only just fitted!



We had our 4WD excitement early today. Across town, we forded the Arrow River (pretty deep, I thought) (but not over the bonnet- Doug) and set off up Tobin's Track. It was a pretty good track. We climbed very high up, and soon had a magnificent view back down over Arrowtown with a couple of seats! One of the seats was dedicated to Noel and one to Jack. The track finally met the top of the Crown Range Rd. (We went over the Crown Range over 15 years ago in the ute. It has since been sealed, and was very pleasant to travel on this time.)



We stopped briefly at the Cardrona Pub. Doug goes to Land Rover meetings in a replica of this famous old pub in Auckland.



Lake Wanaka looked so beautiful as we approached. We parked to gaze at the view, then took a stroll around town. The town was busy, Lots of nice shops - I felt that we looked a bit like Hillbillies in our camping clothes and old Land Rover. Everybody looked so smartly dressed!

Soon we drove around to Eely Point to eat our lunch. We stayed off the main road for a while as we drove towards Lake Hawea where we were to camp. En route, Doug did a little fishing.

Lake Hawea is quieter than Wanaka. We are in quite a nice camping ground near the lake. It isn't as modern as the Arrowtown one; seems more relaxed and not a single big board of 'Rules' in sight.

The sandflies are biting! I wonder if we'll have mossies tonight?

Cromwell

Today we decided to have a closer look at Cromwell, 42 km from Arrowtown, via Kawarau Gorge. We stopped for a look at the Roaring Meg power station, named after a noisy woman associated with the construction workers.

Cromwell town centre was very quiet, almost deserted, with a lot of empty shops. We found a supermarket and stocked up for a few days as prices are much cheaper than in the smaller shops.



Down by the lakeside we looked at the restored Cromwell Town, originally called The Junction as it is on the junction of the Clutha and Kawerau rivers. In 1993 the Clyde Dam flooded the valley and the original site of the town, creating Lake Dunstan.

Arrowtown - Coal Pit Road Gibbston - Bungi

Monday 2nd April

Sooooo cold this morning. Long trek to the ablutions, but worth it to get under that lovely hot shower. The sun takes a wee while to get up over the surrounding hills, but once it does it's very warm - hot even.

After breakfast and after doing some washing, the sun was streaming down so Doug and I shed our heavy jackets and woolly hats and walked into town.



We enjoyed exploring the shops, then walked over to the historic Chinese village.



We returned to camp to have lunch, then set out to find Coal Pit Rd. This is an old road in the Kawarau Gorge that winds up very high to an abandoned coal mine. It was definitely a 4 WD track; rough rather than scary and negotiated in 2nd gear, low ratio. Doug enjoyed looking at the rusty old steam boilers etc. He also happened upon this hedgehog munching away on some delicacy.

Travelling back to camp we called in to a winery and cheesery. We sampled some really lovely cheeses. after buying one we decided that we wouldn't visit the winery.



Our next stop was the impressive bungi jump on the Kawarau River. We waited for ages to see someone jump, but eventually our patience was rewarded.
Bungi jumping has been added to my Reverse Bucket List. Why do people do it?



Our final stop was Ford St, back in Arrowtown. Doug wanted to check out the ford as we will be crossing the Arrow River when we go, on to Wanaka on Wednesday via Tobin's track and the Crown Range.

Gore - Arrowtown

Sunday 1st April

We had a good last night in Gore - no fog, so it didn't seem as cold. Once again we cooked in the kitchen. Quite amusing - a young Frenchman came in to cook some pathetic little saveloy things for himself and girlfriend. I talked him out of frying them; suggested he just give the 1 min in the microwave. He told us about his camping adventure at Lake Blunt ????? He said that "The mices got into our campervan" he had tried to kill them by hitting them with a "One of these" (a saucepan).

After leaving Gore we set off for Queenstown. It was a beautiful morning - lovely blue sky; not too cold.



We had our first stop at Fairlight. The Kingston Flyer was there at building up a great puff for the trip back to Kingston.

We changed our plans at that point and decided that we would not camp at Queenstown but take an interesting road (Tobins Track) that followed on after the Crown Range. We would end up near Arrowtown. Sounded good - I have been over the Crown Range before and survived.

Some how we missed vital signposts and ended up on a 'bunny road' as far as Doug was concerned.



Doug was greatly cheered when he saw a turnoff to Coronet Peak. Some way up the road after we had enjoyed the spectacular views we came to a sign saying Skippers Rd. "Let's have a look," said Doug.



I have invented something new today. It's called "The Reverse Bucket List" On this list I will record places that I never, never want to go to again.
This was the dreaded Skipper's canyon. I haven't been so scared for a long time. We met quite a few vehicles going in the opposite direction - so scary giving way. The views were spectacular so I tried to distract myself by taking photos. I hated knowing that it was a 'No Exit" Rd so at some point we had to turn and retrace our steps.



Well we survived. The camping ground at Arrowtown is lovely, modern and well equipped. Doug is still keen to find Tobins Track; probably tomorrow, after we have climbed the big hill behind the camping ground.

Alexanders, Gore

Saturday 31st March Gore

Such a cold morning - fog hung around until lunchtime. We took our breakfast things over to the kitchen/dining room so that we could have the heater on and warm up a bit. I did some washing, then we set out to explore Gore township. The winter gear came out: swandri, woolly hat for Doug; scarf and warmest jacket for me. The shops were warm.

Later we went to find Coutts Rd where the Alexanders had owned a small holding after Great-grandad retired from his blacksmith business.

I have no idea where their house would have been - the street is all houses now.



After lunch we found the cemetery where the family are buried. A very plain headstone! The Alexanders were not ostentatious people! My great grandparents David Alexander and Martha (nee Robertson) and their two unmarried daughters Elizabeth and Josephine are buried here. My grandfather, Matthew died in Napier; William Andrew was mortally wounded at Gallipoli and buried at Crete.



Doug had another go at fishing once the fog cleared. Usual result.

After a cuppa by the river, we visited the Gore Museum. Much of it was devoted to the Hokanui (moonshine) produced by some of the first Scottish settlers; but there was other historic stuff as well. We missed going to the library as it shut at 2:00pm, but we did get to see the art collections at the Art Gallery. Quite a neat little town.

The sun was beaming down on my washing when we returned to the tent - jerseys are off; expecting 3 degrees tonight!

Friday Invercargill

Friday 30th March

Invercargill

The weather continued to be brilliant. Cold nights, but lovely warm, sunny days. It's quite dark in the mornings so we are tending to sleep in a bit.

Today we set out for Invercargill after breakfast - about 61 kms away. The plan was to visit the museum at Southland Boys' High School, then find Mitchell St. where Dad was born. We were pleased to find a city map on the outskirts of the city, as we had no address for the school.



We were made to feel welcome at the school. The office lady gave us the key to the museum and pointed us in the right direction.

This museum is well worth a visit. It had booths with various themes: staff, sports' teams, historic buildings, roll of honour, dux board, scholarship board etc etc. There were old photographs,old documents and artifacs.



We found my grandfather's name on the dux and scholarship boards. (Matthew Alexander) His younger brother William featured too, on the scholarship board. Both were also involved in cricket, rugby and soccer.



Having just travelled 61 kms from Gore where the family lived, we realised that Matt and William must have lived away from home to attend highschool. (1903 - 1908)


We found this info and painting about a boarding facility that was built about that time. Maybe they lived there.

After an hour or so of looking around we drove to Queen's Park to have lunch.

The next place to find was the street where Dad was born. (After marrying, Matt returned to Southland to teach; first of all at Gore High School as 'Commercial Master' 1914-1916, then as a science and mathematics master 1916-1923.)
Kath, Dorothy and Dad were all born while they lived at Mitchell St. (1916, 1917, and 1920 respectively.)

There were quite a few old houses in Mitchell St so we took photos, of possibilities hoping to identify it at a later date.

Omarama to Gore

Thursday 29th March

I didn't write anything yesterday - the internet was so slow, and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Doug tried fishing in the canal near a salmon farm; usual story. It was very cold in the evening - a cold wind blowing.


After a chilly night went packed up up the tent and loaded up the Land Rover.



Heading via the Lindis Pass it looked like being a foggy trip with no scenery, but after a hill or two the fog cleared to some lovely vistas.



We had to visit Bendigo en-route for Kristina and our grandkids in the Aussie town of the same name. It was named after the Australian one, and had a township on the spot from 1880 to 1914. The old cottage and bakery date from those days, but not much else is left.



We passed Lake Dunstan and took this panoramic picture of the reflections. It is actually a lake formed by the Clyde Dam.

After Cromwell, we drove down the Roxburgh Valley, and found a nice supply of cheap Black Doris plums.

Another day of beautiful colours and scenery. Neither Doug or I had been through the Lindis Pass before.

The Gore Motor camp is pretty empty. The owner has told Doug where to fish. Her nine year old always catches at least one fish when he goes!