Moving from the Queenstown Holiday Park after my job was complete, we were looking forward to catching up with Rob and see Helen who had arrived in Lowburn from Auckland the day before.
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Motorhomes and caravans down at one of my favourite parking spots
We were at Rob and Helen’s place for the weekend and Sunday was planned for a quick bike ride down to the lake by Lowburn Inlet.
Rob had some chores he wanted to deal with and was going to walk down later so we all set off.
The bikes ready to go
Fantastic sunshiney day and warm as toast as long as you kept out of the shadows!
Fiona and Helen heading to Lowburn
We ended up down by the inlet where we’ve stayed in Rafe right by the lake. Its interesting to see that the absolute lakeside has been fenced off but it is still a wonderful place to stay. I believe the loos have had a bit of a makeover too.
Lowburn lake
We didn’t stay long and we biked back up the Lowburn Valley to check out some of the newly built houses. The real estate scene down here is cruising along nicely and I’m not surprised looking at some of the fantastic homes being built here.
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By the Lowburn lake
Lowburn valley
A shot from up on the hill looking over the valley. Lake Dunstan on the right
Looking across the trees and stream at the back of Rob and Helen’s place
Fiona and Helen getting back
When we arrived back at the house in time for friends Ross and Karen afternoon drinks, Rob was just arriving back from a walk. He didn’t say where he’d been but Rob doesn’t do small walks 🙂
Fiona getting back to Rob and Helen’s
After parting ways with Rob at Alexandra, we set off towards Queenstown and then Glenorchy. Good old GPS took us right through the main shopping area of Queenstown. We were heading for the pedestrian mall at one stage 🙂
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On the way to Glenorchy
Once out of Queenstown, it was a fun drive. We stopped along the way at a lookout over Lake Whakatipu for lunch and then carried on. The road was up and down all the way to Glenorchy but amazing scenery.
The Glenorchy HotelThe Motorhome parking at the Hotel
We checked in at the Glenorchy Hotel where they have CSC Motorhome parking for $12 with power which is great.
Amazing little town. The main street
After settling down Rafe, we set off to have a quick look around and of course ended up in the Pub in front of the fire.
Tourists on the wharf
In the morning, we used the Laundry here to get through the washing before the forecast rain came.
Looking up from the main street at Mt Larkins
Later, the weather was closing in and we had an amazing thunderstorm which went on for about three hours. Its amazing hearing the boom echo off the mountains and the ferocity of the lightning was something else too.
Looking westward towards the weather!
It was fun tucked up listening and watching 🙂
Looking across to Mount Bonpland
After breakfast, we set off for a walk down through the town as the wind got up, the sun came out and the mountains around us looked amazing.
The Famous Red ShedLooking back at Mt Larkins from the wharf
Fiona went for a walk around the Glenorchy lagoon which she said was nice.
Its a nice wee town and interesting to see a few big back up generators around. They must have a few weather related power issues from time to time.
The Netspeed Speedtest
Download : 65.17 mbps
Upload : 13.49 mbps
Ping : 89 ms
On arriving at Cromwell, we had to stock on some groceries at the New World, get some Diesel at the Truck stop and call some friends re catching up as you do!
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The Historic Precinct in Cromwell
After this we had lunch by the lake and had a good look around the Cromwell Historic Precinct. The lake looked fantastic and its a nice spot to relax in and see what used to be in this area.
By the Historic Precint in Cromwell
We were going to stay the night in Lowburn at Rob and Helens house with Rob, Helen was flying down later that week. As they’re Motorhomers themselves, they have a purpose built concrete pad with a 16 amp external power socket for friends on wheels 😄
Absolute luxury !
Rafe and Rob and Helens Tracker at their place.
After a nice night with Rob at Lowburn, we met old Auckland friends Ross and Karen and they took us around to a restaurant and we enjoyed a nice couple of hours catching up on all the news. Our kids were all Playcentre kids together so we go back a long long way.
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Rafe parked near the precinct
Lake Dunstan
Rob and Helens place
The forecast was looking very suspect so we headed back to Derek and Andrea’s Cap in Alexandra and Rob came with us to hunker down for the weather.
The view from Rob and Helen’s lounge
Its really good to see Rob and also Ross and Karen as we haven’t seen them for at least a year or two.
It was a cold, foggy and clammy day with a bit of drizzle thrown in but we were keen to bike into Alexandra from where we were staying about 7 k’s from Alex at Derek and Andrea’s Park over Property.
In the unpowered area
Its a big space with plenty of powered sites, a toilet, $2 shower and a laundry along with water. And its $12 per van!
Us next to a Burstner Elegance of some other fulltime Jaffas’
From here its and easy ride to either Clyde or Alexandra and the Otago Rail Trail is just 1/2 a kilometre away.
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The old Alexandra bridge supports
After a coffee and a quick look around in Alex, we found the end of the trail by the bridge and set off along the river towards Clyde. Its about 12k and is supposed to take about 45 minutes.
Looking back at Alex
Its a great ride and we came across several coming the other way on bikes and a few walkers.
Crossing a small Waterfall
About half way along there are old tailings where a lot of Gold was discovered, and there is what looks like an old drill bit from days gone by. When I say drill bit, its about 6ft in diameter so not something that would fit the Black and Decker !
Fiona with the giant drill bit
We averaged about 15-18kph along the ride as its quite different from the Rail Trail (avg 25kph) with a few curves around trees and ups and down but this makes it a fun ride.
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Its easy to see the history of this vehicle. At Derek and Andreas CAP
Us next to the Elegant lines of a Burstner
Getting down to the riverside at Alex
Looking towards Clyde from Alex
Interesting track
Clash of ages
Dunstan House in Clyde
It runs alongside the river and in several places you cross bridges, ride on boardwalks and there is even a small waterfall. Well worth doing. It took us a little more than ½ hour.
Interesting track
Eventually we came to the Clyde Bridge and rode off into Clyde.
At the finish line Clyde bridge.. 12k’s
A fun day
The Netspeed Speedtest at Derek and Andreas CAP
Download : 41.79 mbps
Upload : 5.31 mbps
Ping : 66ms
Having done the section of the Bike Trail all the way to Alexandra, we thought it best to move towards Clyde. The GPS was suggesting the road over the hill from the Ida Valley into Ophir and down from there.
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The Old Cottage at Ophir
There was an old Stone Cottage on the hill just as we came into Ophir so we had to stop and get a pic even though we know nothing about it 🙂
The Bacon Butty 🙂
We headed off to Chatto Creek to have a good look at the Pub and Historic Post Office. While we were there I had an amazing Bacon Butty and Fiona had a Seafood Chowder. Both fantastic, HUGE and under $20.. great meals!
Fiona’s Seafood Chowder
In the grounds of the Pub is the original Chatto Creek Post office which was in use up from 1892 up until 1975. After that it had a short stint where it was a sleep out in Alexandra but it was soon retrieved and reinstalled to its orginal spot. Fancy borrowing a historic Post Office !
The Post office
A really interesting spot that has had its moments, the Pub even completely losing its roof during a wind storm in the late 1990’s but it is looking great.
The pub as it is todayAs it was some years ago – a picture on the wall.
They are happy for Self Contained Motorhomes to overnight in the carpark and there is plenty of room. The Otago Rail Trail passes just behind the pub so its handy if you’re doing the Trail and they have accommodation as well.
Ernest and his wife Hannah Hayes emigrated to NZ in the mid 1882 from England and settled in Oturehua. Intially working as a Millright in one of the flour mills here, Ernest’s real achievments began when he began inventing things to make life easier on their 150 acre farm.
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Hannah’s Cottage, now the cafe and the original home.
From windmills to rabbit bait cutters, the Hayes inventions quickly spread around the country and overseas. Perhaps his most well known tool is his refinement of J Reid’s fencing wire strainer, perfected in 1924, and is still used around the world today.
Wire winders
As the business grew, so did their family and although they had nine children, Hannah became one of NZ’s first travelling saleswoman biking all over the Maniatoto, and McKenzie areas selling their products.
Part of the workshops
Their factory on the farm was powered by Windmill and Pelton Wheel from water running down the hill and after initially living in a mud hut, later they built a large villa which they also powered from their factory.
Part of the workshop.. click on this to see Hi Res!
The Hayes engineeing works has been maintained by the family and is still in really good shape.
The workshop..
The various buildings for Dairy, Laundry, the workshops and the original Mud Cottage that they lived in is now Hannahs Cafe.
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The orginal Hayes home which is now a Cafe. They had 9 children living here.
Hayes also made Windmills.
The famous Hayes wire strainers
Another product
The workshop
The stables
The Laundry and Dairy
Stables
One of their Windmills
Fiona and I walked along the road about 1 k from our spot in Oturehua and checked it all out. It is also right on the bike trail as you come into Oturehua.
The Hayes Homestead
A magic place and its really nice to see how they lived and where one of New Zealands great inventers and his saleswoman wife lived and worked.
Rafe’s Tracker map showing where this is in relation to the town.
Today was washing day.. two big loads to catch up while a brisk Nor wester was there to dry it all.
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Fiona using the power pole clothesline 🙂
The washing line was a hoot. Two shortened power poles with the washing line wire in between. It worked a treat.
We’re staying at The Crows Nest which is a very small campground in the main street of Oturehura with cabins for Bike Trail people. There are only two powered sites but I’m sure the host Bill, could rustle up some more if the need arose. Its all here though and exceptional value at $20 per van for two with power.
The hosts are fantastic and although Bill was originally from Winton, for most of his life, he and his wife Mal, have been in the Tauranga area for quite a while but have now settled here. They’re lovely people and very helpful.
Fiona off up to the Poolburn Dam.. great colours
The next morning, Fiona organised the washing and I got the bikes ready. Once the wash was out, we were off on our way up to the Poolburn Viaduct. An easy ride although a lot more gravel on the trail here making it harder to ride on than other parts of the trail.
Auripo Station looking back towards OturehuraThe Poolburn Viaduct .. took 3 years to build.
The colours and the landscape was just amazing. With the clouds doing strange things with the wind over the hills, it was really interesting for piccies.
Over the hills from the Viaduct looking out towards Lauder
I averaged about 20 odd Kph despite the gravel but stopped a lot for piccies with my phone. Some amazing spots.
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Fiona coming out of the Tunnel.. her light worked this time!
How’s that Nor Wester !
One of the cabins
One of the flasher cabins
Next to the General store
Fiona checking images of the soldiers at the Anzac display
Sunset of the Ida Valley hills
We ended up doing about 30 odd K’s for the round trip over nearly two hours.
People enjoying a walk on the TrailOutside the camp looking back at the hills on dusk.. stunning
After cleaning up and locking the bikes, we headed off for a walk to have a look at the town ending up in the pub!
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The General Store
The way it used to be before shopping malls.
Fiona buying some bread
Some of the collectibles
Great Hotel and its for sale
A neat wee town and we’ve decided to stay another couple of nights to have a good look around.
The Netspeed Speedtest
Download : 59.00 mbps
Upload : 20.10 mbps
Ping : 71 ms
Fiona wanted to bike up to Hyde from the Rock and Pillar so after leaving Middlemarch, we stopped at the Rock and Pillar area where we’d biked to the day before and got her ready.
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Fiona arriving at Hyde
The plan was she was going to bike up to Hyde and I would meet her there in Rafe and then we’d go onto Ranfurly for the night for the next part of the trail.
Waiting for Fiona at Hyde
She made it to Hyde in quite good time and decided she wanted to ride further up the trail so I stopped at Daisyside where the trail ran right alongside the road and there was an easy carpark for Rafe and we put her bike on and off we went to Ranfurly.
Off to daisyfields
There was a Tunnel and a Viaduct and the complaint was the light didn’t work. Murphys law, the wires had come unplugged for the headlight just in time for the Tunnel so after plugging them back in, we were all good again.
Happy Hour in the corner at the NZMCA Park Ranfurly
We arrived in Ranfurly just in time for late lunch at the 4 square cafe and left with a bottle of wine for an afternoon in the blazing sun at the NZMCA park.
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The disaster was 1.5k’s North of this mark
The Hyde Railway Disaster Memorial
The Hyde Pub
Off to daisyfields
Nearly at Waipiata
The next morning, we got the bikes ready and both set off towards Waipiata.
On the way in the fog to Waipiata
Leaving Ranfurly in the fog, it was cold and the air on your hands on the trail was bitter.. I thought then, we should have thought about gloves but too late. The sun was starting to come out and more sun was appearing across the trail the further we went on.
The Waipiata Pub
By the time we got to Waipiata, the pub open sign was out and it was time for a Latte and time to warm up. We met some really nice people who were there as well with cups of Coffee warming up as well who were from Epsom and Greenlane. They were doing the whole trail over 5 days. They were heading in the same direction as us so after a chat, we all set off.
We followed them as far as Kokonga which was another 12 k’s or so and then turned around to head back to Ranfurly. Several bridges and some nice scenes..
The Ranfurly NZMCA park
Every bit of this trail is quite different and has a different look. A great day. It was nice to get back to the NZMCA park, meet our neighbours and enjoy a drink in the Ranfurly sunshine.
The Netspeed Speedtest
Download : 59.04 mbps
Upload : 20.06 mbps
Ping : 71 ms
We arrived in Middlemarch early in the afternoon and with the plan being to bike up to Hyde from there, I thought that might be optimistic but Hey Ho!
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Getting the Bikes ready
We were staying in Middlemarch Holiday park so we had power to charge up the bikes and so we could turn up the heat as it was forecast to be pretty cold!
The Kitchen in the camp
We were welcomed by the camp owner Susan who couldn’t have been more helpful and told to pick a site and plug in. Susan then went on to tell us that she had ridden the whole trail on her horse Wilson who was in the next paddock so she knew it well.
Susan with Wilson
It didn’t take long to get the bikes ready and we were off towards Hyde. It was just before 3pm when the shadows started to get longer and as we had to return to Middlemarch, I thought if we got as far as Rock and Pillar, we’d call it quits and have a go at Hyde the next day.
Fiona setting off from Middlemarch
What a great track and with the sun out a not a cloud around, but when we went behind the trees, it was cold. As we went on the shadows got longer but with the new Lecky bikes it was a lot of fun and basically, we did the round trip in just under an hour.
Some horses on the way
As it turned out, the sun hung up there longer than we thought and we might have made to Hyde.
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Inside the Train kitchen
In the Train Kitchen
The Train Kitchen and outdoor space
At the Rock and Pillar
Heading home
It gave us a chance to get back and have a look around the camp which is neat. The Kitchen is made from an old railway carriage and fits into a covered seating area for people to sit and enjoy the area.
On the way back to Middlemarch
Macraes is famous for its size and as it was on the way to Middlemarch, we stopped at the lookout for a look at this amazing mine. Friends of ours had shown us this several years ago but it looked even bigger this time than I remember it.
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The BIG Hole – To the left of the car on the road you’ll see the diggers in the pic belowLooking down in the BIG Hole
From the top the diggers and trucks were just little specks and you really have to look hard to see them doing their thing in the mine. Its massive!
The mine was opened in 1990 and since then has produced more than 5.7 tonnes of Gold.
The Boot Makers
After this we checked out the town ship which was basically the pub and a few historic old buildings.
The Pub at Macraes
Its amazing seeing all these places and this was one town that I had never seen.
Motorhomes and caravans down at one of my favourite parking spots
The bikes ready to go
Fiona and Helen heading to Lowburn
Lowburn lake
Fiona getting back to Rob and Helen’s
