One always hopes that a last night in a place would be
memorable: memorable for the right reasons. Our last night in Aoraki was
memorable for all the wrong reasons! The wind blew and blew, and I couldn’t
sleep. And when we finally arose, earlier
than usual, there was a power cut. No
hot water! No cuppa!! And with day light saving also gone, I felt more than a
little out of kilter.
A quick getaway was called for; and we were on the road
before we could say “Rabbits, Rose Hips and Rifleman.” A great café in Twizel,
the Shanty Cafe, is where we headed; and after and a hearty Mackenzie country
breakfast and cup of tea, I began to feel myself again.
By lunch we had settled at the Lake Benmore Holiday Park . It is not
quite on the shores of Benmore - but close enough - and just a couple of km east
of Omarama. We got on our bikes and followed
a section of the ‘Alps-to-Ocean cycle track’ around Lake Benmore to end up in Sailor’s
Cutting. We spent two days in the area
visiting familiar spots including the Power Station that Wayne worked on in the
1980s. A highlight was the Twizel breeding
programme for the Black Stilt; one of NZ’s endangered native birds. Sadly, the
breeding programme, and the reintroduction of the birds into their natural
habitat, is proving to be a challenge.
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| Black Stilts in Breeding Programme |
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| Alps-to-Ocean cycle track around Lake Benmore |
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| Lake Benmore |
Omarama to Arrowtown wasn’t far, and a glorious day welcomed
us to the annual Arrowtown Autumn Festival. Over the next ten days we did two
long cycles trips. The first was around Lake Hayes, which was very pleasant. The
second was a return journey around the Lake Hayes estate and the Lower Shotover
Bridge (nearly 50km), which nearly killed me!!.
We joined some of the autumn festival activities. Market day
was a brilliant sunny day, and we enjoyed a country market atmosphere with music
and entertainment, colourful stalls and food, of course… whitebait patties. We bought
beautiful cheeses from Gibbston Valley and peach, nectarine and cardamom chutney and boysenberry jam
from Riverton. We also made the most of a free guided
tour of Arrowtown's main centre; also taking in a couple
of local churches and the cemetery.
As you can image the colours of
Arrowtown were spectacular, and we were delighted to be there at such a beautiful time
of the year.
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| Colours of Arrowtown |
We also discovered the Arrowtown Chinese settlement, a
historic site, worthy of a visit. Arrowtown, like numerous small settlements in
Central Otago, had its origins in the 1860’s gold rush era, which attracted
many migrants including Chinese. Sadly the Chinese experienced
hardships and discrimination, not the least being immigration taxes - poll taxes
- which demanded that Chinese pay 100 pounds for each Chinese immigrant entering NZ – equivalent to one years salary. Therefore it was difficult to bring family members to NZ and as a consequence, many Chinese men died alone,
a long way from home. DOC has preserved some of the remains of the Chinese
community along the Arrow River and it is a testament to the hardships they
endured and the contribution they made to the gold rush era. It was a moving experience viewing their
living conditions and reading their narratives.
Arrowtown produced snow for two days, an unexpected bonus. But
never fear the Sabbaticus kept us snug and warm.
A visit to Central Otago would be nothing without a visit to
a winery or two. We visited Gibbston
Valley wines and enjoyed a beautiful late lunch with a selection of their wines.
We also found the home of Roaring Meg, a Pinot Noir we have enjoyed in the past;
it’s made by Mt. Difficulty in Bannockburn. Our visits were timely as having
been on the road for nearly 8 weeks, the wine cellar on board Sabbaticus needed
to be restocked.
Our final night in Arrowtown was a more positive experience than
our one at Aoraki. We had dinner at the Stables,
a lovely restaurant in a historic building that was, not surprisingly, once a
stable. It was very quaint with low ceilings, wooden doors, shutters and stone
walls. We were on the second floor – essentially
a loft… all very tastefully redecorated. We were introduced to yet another
great Pinot Noir, this time from Cromwell called Wooingtree. I enjoyed Goats
Cheese and polenta cakes, with roast pumpkin and beetroot salad (mouth-watering
and possibly my new winter favourite), while Wayne enjoyed Bendigo Rabbit
Drunken Fig pie.
Arrowtown to Clyde and The Otago Rail Trail - a new
adventure awaits.
Photos of the quant and the old around Arrowtown.
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| Julie's Baking - Sun Dried Tomato Bread (GF) |
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