The weather has been variable from warm to cool; sun and clouds. One thing you can count on is wind! We've had some casual days in Cromwell including bike rides along Lake Dunstan, a trip to the Cromwell Highlands motor sport race course and museum, and a regional car show. There are a lot of old american muscle cars in New Zealand. Some are pretty rough and some beautifully restored. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch with our friends Mike, Susi, Kati, and James at Mt. Difficulty winery prior to their return home to Auckland. Bonnie and I took a drive to Wanaka and returned via the Crown Range road to Queenstown and back to Cromwell and enjoyed a wonderful dinner with new friends John and Raylee.
We packed up the Landcruiser Tuesday and drove across the Otago via a winding mountain road to the East coast, crossing south of Aroaki (Mt. Cook) and Lake Tekapo ( minimal views due to heavy rains) dropping into the Canterybury plain which is a dairy farming region and on to Timaru where we spent the night with friends, Rick and Sue. Timaru is where the first frozen meat export shipping technology was developed resulting in the birth of the New Zealand meat export business in the late 1800's that continues today. The next day a 4 hour drive through the outskirts of Christchurch and headed north on to Hanmer Springs via the Waipara valley. Waipara is famous for it's wines, beautiful green fields, mountains, and plenty of sheep.
Late afternoon we drove into Hanmer Springs developed in the 1800's famous for it's geothermal springs and at one time was the site of a sanatorium, although there is no mention of it being a place for polio or tuberculosis treatment, however I did find out later it was in fact a rehabilitation center for soldiers returning from WWI. New Zealand still commemorates a day in memory of their losses at Galipoli. Hamer Springs is at the end of the road and the springs are wonderful to soak in as they have a complex of hot and sulfur pools. The area is also notable for a managed, public trust forest with walking and bike trails which we rode a few km's on last night. Much like the Banner Forest on Bainbridge Island It is also the terminus of the St. James bike track which traverses what once was the largest station (ranch) in the south Island. The Molesworth station is now held in trust by the government. We didn't have time to ride the whole track but did a loop up to Peter's pass and back. The track is well maintained and a fun ride that was well worth doing for the views up the Waiu River valley and the mountains beyond.
 |
| Mt. Difficulty Vineyards |
 |
| Bannockburn gold fields |
 |
| Cromwell and Lake Dunstan |
 |
| Salmon quiche for lunch |
 |
Thermal pools at Hanmer Springs
|
 |
| Homestead, St. James cycle trail |
 |
| Riding the Saint James track to Peters Pass |
Comments
Post a Comment