Queenstown Lakes in Autumn

Catch-up

We headed off to Queenstown on Easter Monday both looking forward to seeing David's daughter (who we haven't seen in a year or so) and her partner when they arrived off a plane from Australia, the next day. Our Winton family also drove through for a couple of days of family time too.

We stopped at a very busy Cromwell dump station on our way out of town and then made our way back to the main road, past the autumnal looking Bannockburn vineyards.

The road through the Kawarau Gorge is also known as 'The Golden Highway' due to its gold mining history but at this time of the year, it also reflects the beautiful colours of the poplars and willows that contrast against the stark grey rock faces and brilliant blue of the river that flows through the gorge.

We stopped at Lake Hayes for lunch, we've stayed here a couple of times but for this visit we're heading to a campground so we can chill and relax without the worry of having to park in the allocated space and move after two nights.

It was a brilliant blue sky sunny day with just a slight chill, the cloud hund low around the Remarkables but dissipated soon after this photo was taken. Whenever we stop, I'm always out and shooting photos straight away. It's been proved too often that if I wait until after that cup of tea or lunch, the scene will change and the moment gone forever.

The next day I came back to Lake Hayes to get a few more photos of the autumn colours.

I also stopped at another little rest area half way along the lake where I'd seen a bright blob of brilliant yellow...

...and found not only the willows on the lakeside above but this beautiful setting below. With the lake's walking trail passing along the front of the property and the reserve on another side it's no wonder there were numerous signs telling people to 'Keep Out'. Unfortunately there are a few overseas tourists who have no idea of personal space (or couldn't read) and were clambering over the garden at the front of the house.

After lunch at Lake Hayes we moved on to our regular campground when we're not freedom camping, the Top10 at Arthurs Point, just above Skippers Canyon on the Shotover River. Queenstown campgrounds are always busy and I'd booked our usual site a few weeks ago, the one we can neatly slot into without too much hassle as all the sites are reasonably small and tight. 

'Yes, Mrs Evans you can have your preferred site #41, no, that's fine, no problems, we look forward to seeing you again' 

...except they forgot to tell me they've added a nice little toilet portacom over the clearway. 

With a little maneuvering David managed to park the van in perfectly but luckily we arrived early afternoon as it was chaos later when the rentals vans started arriving. As it was we had a guy drumming his fingers on the steering wheel of his rental as he waited to pass us to another site. Impatient bugger!

The camp have also put in a new dump station but unfortunately while the previous one was bad enough for access, there's no way we'd fit into this one. Luckily we'd done our business at Cromwell.

As the afternoon wore on, the rentals filed in...

...until there wasn't a site to spare...

Being able to back in off  the clearway is not the only reason we like our preferred site, this is the only site with a hedge on either side too, so it's great for privacy. Being tightly packed in like sardines is not our idea of camping but we've found out, that if we want to do a few things in Queenstown and/or are there for a few days and want to have no worries, this Top10 suits us fine. And actually when you're totally self-contained you can keep your own space or get involved as it suits. 

We weren't due at the airport until mid afternoon on Tuesday so I left David relaxing and went for a drive through to Arrowtown to check out the autumn colours.

Arrow River

The Arrowtown Autumn Festival was due to start the next day with the big finale on the weekend. 

We've attended the festival twice before and had we not been tied up with family this year, we'd have probably gone to this one too. Well, gone to the NZMCA rally associated with the Festival anyway, just to enjoy the camaraderie and to see Prue & Harry again (who organise the rally).

Although it doesn't look like it from here, the little town was full to overflowing with every spare space taken by cars, rental motorhomes and buses, many parked along the river bank below the main street, with dozens of people crowding the footpaths and shops and this wasn't even the Festival proper! 

Having seen it all several times before, I made a hasty retreat to the cenotaph above the town to take some scenic shots.

Once finished there, I headed for Lake Hayes (photos at the beginning of the blog) and then home stopping to take a photo of this stone cottage I'd spied as we passed a clearing yesterday.

Not for the first time this season, I've felt autumn wasn't quite firing on all cylinders. Yes, there was still lots of colour but many trees had already shed their leaves and other weren't colouring up before dropping theirs. I guess I've been spoilt having now experienced three Central Otago autumns.

A Treat at the End of the Road- Central Otago

Catch-up; Late March 2016

Well, I didn't quite get this batch of back blogs done before it was time to pack up the van, say our good-byes once again to Mum & Dad in Napier, and hit the road. We're heading south this time, at a snail's pace. Heading south, back to the South Island for some more adventures but doing a little beach hopping along the east coast on the way. 

So here's the last of the Central Otago blogs from our day trip around the Ida Valley, and funnily enough, this was the one I really wanted to tell you about because we found an extraordinary sight at the end of the day (and at the end of a road).

After a delightful afternoon at Hayes Engineering exploring the wonders of yesteryear we carried on north a few kilometres before stopping at the historic Gilchrist Store in Oturehua for an icecream.

The shop was closed when we drove through here last August so this time I was able to take some inside photos of the general store (after asking of course).

Many of the shelves had grocery items from the past stacked along them.

You could certainly spend a wee while reminiscing and still miss some of the displays which were tucked into all the nooks and crannies. It was actually hard to decide what was for sale and what was on display.

That's now three historic general stores we've visited in the South Island; the other two being Hodgsons of Murchison and my favourite, the Langford Store at Bainham in Golden Bay.

Our next stop was at the site of the old Golden Progress Mine where the quartz reefs of the Oturehua field were worked on and off from 1868 to 1936. The size of tailings left behind suggest that the mine was one of the bigger ones in Central Otago.

I left David in the car reading his virtual paper while I made my way up a narrow gully full of shady poplars. I scared the living daylights out of a number of sheep resting in the shade but not before the first of them nearly tripped me up as it made a dash for freedom up the hill. I would have thought they'd heard me crunching through the leaf litter, I could certainly smell that they were nearby.

A restored miners hut sits near the bottom of the gully where once there were a number of huts and a hotel, the Withers Pub. 

Across the 'lane' from the hut is the remains of the Mine Manager's house.

A track leads the way up to the head of the gully, past the tailing mounds and on to the poppet head and mine shaft.

The 14 metre high poppet head sits over the mine shaft which is 45 metres deep. This is a very rare relic, it's the only poppet head left standing in Central Otago. The poppet head supports wheels which ran steel ropes that hoisted the gold bearing ore to the surface. The metal cage sitting beneath it was used to move miners, equipment and ore up and down the shaft. The boiler powered a winch that pulled the steel cables through the wheels.

This is looking back down the gully from the tramway track where once the ore was carted in trolleys down to the battery to be crushed.

The battery, which was removed to another mine, was once supported by the concrete blocks here and powered by this second boiler. I always find these sites fascinating, reading the information boards and imagining the frenetic activity that would have been going on in this now peaceful valley.

Our next stop was along the straights at the north end of the Ida Valley, to take a photo of the Hawkdun Range. The range made famous by NZ painter Grahame Sydney. I can understand its appeal, it's a fairly uniform row of mountains that stretches like a backbone across the landscape separating Central Otago from the Waitaki District. It looks really impressive when it has a coat of solid snow om it too.

The Hawkduns are on one side of the road and the old Blackstone Hill (aka Hills Creek) School, is set back off the road and tucked into some pines, on the other side. The school which was built in the 1890s and closed in 1949, looks to be fighting for survival. This is one of the few remaining buildings in Hills Creek left over from the gold mining era when there were also 13 hotels operating in the township during its heyday. 

We take the loop road off SH85, there a couple more stops I want to 're-do', we're heading for the hills...

...back to St Bathans and the Blue Lake. I want to see if the scenery and lighting are any different to my last photo shoot of the lake back in early August last year. There's a slight ripple and the sky is just as moody as on our last visit. I'm happy with the first visit shots but I take a couple of quick shots for old times sake...

...and we carry on down the road leaving St Bathans behind. The sun has lit up these 'Badlands' cliffs that border a wide gravelly river bed. They remind me of the Clay Cliffs at Omarama but are not on such a grand scale and also look like the Cathedral Cliffs at Gore Bay in North Canterbury.

We take one last detour (can you hear David protesting?). It's just a short dead-end road to the tiny settlement of Cambrian, the 'Village of Trees'. We've visited it before, it's a quirky & creative little settlement (Grahame Sydney lived there- there's that name again) but I wanted to see if there was anything new now that it's a different season. 

I spotted these old cars in a shed at the end of the road so I take a photo while David is turning the ute around. I hear someone calling out and down the road comes a wily old 'hippy' guy followed by two well toned younger guys who I find out are Woofers. They've been doing some planting and clearing down the road. The old hippy (and he is, he tells me) says he's got something that might be of interest to me seen as I'm taking photos.  

He leads me across a grassy woodland area, around a corner and over a small bridge which crosses a tiny stream and there stretching off into the distant is the most amazing sight...

...a mass of mauve; thousands of false autumn crocuses, aka meadow saffron.

My hippy man proudly tells me I'm the first person to take photos of his flowers this season, they've only come out en-masse in the last couple of days. He also tells me not to tell too many people, he doesn't want his peaceful little village overrun with tourists! So don't go telling him I sent you there. 

Hippie guy has been a very busy man now that he has put down his roots, there's a few hectares he owns at the end of the road and he's converting them all to woodland gardens, and visitors are free to wander. He's planted crocuses everywhere, right up the road edges, in another forested area where on our last visit there were masses of bluebells. 

He tells me he decided the bluebells had to go and he's replaced them all with the crocuses. They do make an amazing display but it seems such a shame that they only last for a short while- a fleeting moment in time. If you are in the area mid to late March do check out this stunning display. And once again we're thrilled to find a hidden gem while out exploring.

As we walk back to the road, I stop to take a photo of the old stone cottage where the Woofers are staying. It's just as well I only had eyes for the cottage because David alerted me to the fact that I might be taking a photo of the stark-naked Woofers who are standing under their outside shower right beside the cottage! And no I didn't mange to get them in the shot....sorry ladies. 

The Complete Ida Valley Loop

Seeking out the Serpentine- Part 1

Real-time

Well that's done and dusted. I can finally tick off one my bucket list 'must see' places in New Zealand. The lonely & isolated historic Serpentine Union Church is located 35kms from civilization (our river camp at Omakau), deep within a vast plateau in the Rough Ridge mountains in Central Otago. The church was also at the top of my 'to photograph' list, to add to my collection of country church photos.  

Long Valley Ridge Road (a misnomer if ever there was one- these are not roads but dirt tracks) leaves the Old Dunstan Road, another rough track that snakes across the top of the ridge, not too far past Poolburn Dam. All these routes are summer 4WD driving only- Rough Ridge is closed during winter with locked gates at all entry points from the beginning of June until the end of September- though you can go as far as Poolburn Dam during winter if the road is dry. It is a cold and hostile environment up on the plateau and snows regularly during winter.

And even through summer, driving any of the tracks should only be attempted after a long dry spell, unless you are a true 4WD driver and not driving a 'shiny' like us. The rock and clay dirt tracks turn very slippery and puggie soon after rain. 

It's also wise to have an accompanying vehicle just in case of any emergency. We were able to get good phone reception for about a kilometre, mid-way through the trip and along the ridge at the highest point, but it would have meant a fair hike and a costly recover had we had any issues. The last vehicles to pass through the area had been 3 days prior (according to the visitor book at the church). 

Well, that's the disclaimer out of the way, so don't say you haven't been warned.

It was going to be a long day for us, we left Omakau at 10am and didn't return until 7pm. Of course we were already familiar with the 14km road into Poolburn Dam, this being our third visit; one just a few days before when we took our visitors on a tiki-tour and then last July when we slipped and slid our way there to be rewarded with the spectacular scene of a frozen lake with beautiful blue & white swirls.

Today we  saw our first boat on the dam, a dinghy with two guys heading off to set their koura pots (fresh water crayfish), a scene I doubt that is repeated anywhere else in New Zealand.

Once across the other side of the dam wall we turned left and headed into new territory, along the Old Dunstan Road, also know as the Old Dunstan Trail; a route used by gold miners in the 1860s to gain quick access from Dunedin to the prosperous Central Otago goldfields.

At one of our early gate stops we came across this Swamp Harrier Hawk. At first we were unsure of why it didn't lift off and I was able to get quite close before it became aware of us. I backed off when it started bumbling about and when I uploaded the photos I can see it had a bung eye but otherwise looked quite healthy. Due to the lack of rabbits we saw on the trip and the poison signs on the gates, we think it could have been secondary poisoning. We couldn't do anything for it and it was still there when we returned later in the day. Poor boy(or girl).

There are no road signs so it pays to have a good idea of where you're heading as there are a number of tracks leading off the 'main' road. We leave Old Dunstan Road here and head right, down Long Ridge Valley Road, according to our map and a couple of tracking apps we have on our phones. There is a Serpentine Road that leaves Old Dunstan at the other end of this section of the trail, near Styx, which you might be tempted to take. Don't. It's a rough true 4WD track.

There are at least a dozen gates to open and close on the way in, which means by the end of the day I'd done 48 gate actions; no wonder there was so much dust on my rubber floor mat. And many of the openings weren't as smooth as these ones. I wonder who decided a split gate was a good idea; I'd pull one side to and then have to race to grab the other side and pull that shut before the first side swung open again. My arms just weren't wide enough to reach both together. Well that, and the fact that I was wrestling to hold my camera as well....

Beside one of the gates was an old stock holding pen that had seen better days. 

We stopped often to take in the immensity of this stunning landscape- big skies, rocky tors, tussock and spikey Spaniard stretch as far as the eye can see in all directions.

The road bumps and winds it's way along the top of the plateau occasionally dropping down into a hollow. A hut symbol was marked on one of our maps and as we'd already been travelling for about an hour along Long Ridge Valley Road, we were beginning to think it might have marked the church instead. We'd convinced ourselves it was going to be the church so when we came over a brow it was a big surprise to see a tiny hut off in the distance....and then wonder how much further the church was.

This is Oliveburn Farm Hut, the cutest and most well kept hut we've come across on our travels.

The rough-cast concrete hut was built in the 1940's and would have been used as a rabbiters hut and probably for musterers too – it has the tiniest little porch, two bunks, plates & cutlery, a small sink and bench with chairs to sit at. And there are even a few supplies in the cupboard. At least we had somewhere to walk to, to spend the night, if we did break down! 

Wouldn't it be great if all these back country huts were similarly well looked after and respected by visitors.

We carried on along the track, David loudly wondering, after seeing the road disappear over a crest far off in the distance, when on earth we were going to get there!

Half an hour later and I open the final gate into the Serpentine Scenic Reserve. And we breath a sigh of relief. Even with maps and a good idea of where we were going it's quite disconcerting having no marker points on the road to say you're heading in the right direction. And on a map five kilometres might as well be 50 when you're driving on a slow bumpy dirt track.

The ungrazed tussock is thick and luxuriant in the reserve and alas, the track still wanders off into the distance. Dare I say it, but it also becomes a lot more bumpy and rutted, due I think to the fact, that any 4WDs and trail bikes have had to stick to the track rather than take shortcuts as they have done on the grazed areas coming in. 

Five minutes later and there's great excitement (on my part) when we can finally see over the side of the plateau and far out over a valley to our right.

A zoomed in shot reveals what looks to be the outskirts of Alexandra in the Manuherikia River valley with the Clyde Gorge cutting through the range behind (well that's what I'm thinking anyway).

And there off to our left, if you look very carefully, is the target of our tiki-tour; the historic Serpentine Church located in a vast plain of tussock (centre left, click on the photo to enlarge).

And in this zoomed in shot you can see the track behind winding it's way down to the church and the gold mine tailing pile in the foreground with a smattering of tussock growing on the nutrient poor rocky surface.

Far across this spectacular view is the "Dismal Swamp", Lake Onslow, one of our favourite dams which is accessible from Roxburgh on another dry weather track. Did you see it in the photo, two above, out to the right? There is a rough 4WD track from Lake Onslow to Serpentine but it's not recommended for anything other that true 4WDs. We knew we weren't going to be that far from Onslow but didn't realise that we'd actually be able to see it from here.

Before we head down to the church we check out the ruins of the old miner's cottages nearby (in the centre in case you miss them).

There's a walking track (1 hour return) below the cottage ruins which leads to the remains of the old Serpentine Gold Mine stamper battery and water wheel, both of which are (apparently) in excellent condition due to being recently restored. In 1882, the battery was located at the top of the ridge to crush ore from the mine. It was moved to it's current site in 1890 but the mine didn't live up to expectations and the battery was abandoned in 1891.

We decide we don't have time to walk to the battery, plus it's far too hot and it looks to be a steep climb back up afterwards. I'm a little disappointed as I doubt we'll be back this way anytime soon.

Behind a large rock I find another memorial plaque for someone who spent a lot of his life fishing and hunting in the area (we regularly find memorial plaques in remote and scenic spots). 

We climb to a high point above the cottages...

...where we can see back to the road and the parked ute...

 ...and out in front of us there are more dams in the sweeping vista-

The Greenland Reservoir...

...the Upper Manorburn Dam (Greenland flows into Manorburn). A track heads across the barren landscape towards the Manorburn. The battery walking track leaves it to the right a little way along, and sweeps around the valley to the battery and then down to the bottom where the mine tunnel is located.

We explored the road to the Upper Manorburn Dam, a few days before this trip (blog post still to come on that). The Manorburn Dam road, like Poolburn, is accessed from the top of the Ida Valley. 

And here are Geenland and Manorburn dams together-

And off behind us we can see Poolburn Dam, which actually doesn't look that far away as the crow flies, but is about 15kms and a couple of hours by dirt track.

Poolburn looks like a large puddle in the mountains in this zoomed shot.You can even see some of the huts on the far side. At a high point on top of another rock we had a 360 degree view of all four dams- what an amazing sight! 

And here's a bad pano shot showing three of the dams; this is four photos stitched together- from left to right, Greenland to left of the rock, Manourburn in the middle and Poolburn in the far distance at the right. Lake Onslow is out of shot to the left. And did you spot David coming up  towards me? Click to enlarge the photo.

I could have easily spent more time soaking in the spectacular views and checking out the small alpine plants and quartz showing in the rocks but it was time to move along, we still had a distance to travel even though we could now see the church.

The road made a frustrating wide sweeping curve around the ridge above the church... 

...before finally dropping down into the depression where it's located. Going by the state of the last 200-300 metres of the track the snow must settle and the rain pool here for days on end (in case you have been wondering, the green colour tint between some photos is caused by taking them through the windscreen).

And finally, 3½ hours, 12 gates, 35kms and umpteen photos later we arrived at the remotest and highest altitude (over 1000m) church in New Zealand. The Serpentine Union Church, opened during the winter of 1873, but never saw many services. 

It was said of the first service that the minister was late in arriving (probably due to the weather). The congregation after waiting some time, adjourned to the nearby hotel for refreshments and had been drinking heavily by the time the minister arrived. When the service finally opened with a well known Psalm the, by now lively, congregation demanded an encore! The minister was not at all impressed, cut short the service and said he would never return. 

The church later became a miners cottage, the porch was added at this time.

Part 2- What's inside & what's in store...