Well, you may have wondered where I'd got to after my last post at the end of the year. There we were happily camping at Ohau C Camp beside Lake Benmore waiting for the warm weather to arrive and the crowds to leave when...
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| Ohau C camp, Lake Benmore |
Instead of spending summer relaxing, exploring, fishing and photographing some of our favourite and more remote South Island lakes; Mavora, Onslow & Poolburn, we'll be ensconced in a dark warehouse for a few weeks. It's time to sort through our furniture & gear which we've had in storage for the last 8 years. And the reason for the sudden need to do this?
Welcome to our new home town! Twizel, heart of Mackenzie Country and the great outdoors.
Mackenzie Country (aka the Mackenzie Basin or Mackenzie
District, and yes, it is a small 'k') is in the high country of the South
Island, at the foot of the Southern Alps and part of the South Canterbury
region. The Mackenzie is close to my heart and one of my favourite areas in all
of New Zealand. Which is just as well, as we have purchased a property not too
far from Twizel's town centre.
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| Kelland Pond |
And while I say 'home town' that's not quite right because
we'll still do our wandering while we rent the property out for short term
holiday accommodation. And then when we
need a break from the road we'll be able to put the sign up for a couple of
weeks 'No Vacancy'.
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| Ben Ohau & Lake Ohau |
There is so much to do in the Mackenzie District, it's a
very busy and fast growing tourist area. The Alps 2 Ocean Cycle Trail passes by
our front gate, there's trophy fishing in the canals and three lakes within
close proximity and another 4 or 5 lakes within an hours drive.
There's day walks and tramping tracks, birding and boating.
The Mackenzie is also an International Dark Sky Reserve which has great appeal
to me; Lady Aurora will never be too far away. Of course I'm in seventh heaven
with the photography opportunities; magnificent autumn colours, wild flowers
(including those love 'em or hate 'em lupins), snow covered mountains, high
country tussock landscapes, big blue skies and turquoise coloured canals and
lakes. And dare I mention hoar frosts!
I can't believe that I can now say that Aoraki/Mt Cook is in
my backyard, just 45 minutes away.
We'll be back in Twizel in early April to unpack the container and then we'll have a little bit of work to do on the property over winter and be ready to hit the road again late winter/early spring.
I will share more information on the property further down
the track, in the meantime I am going to try and catch up on some blogs! (New
Year's resolution that begins February 1st!).
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| Lake Ruataniwha |
