Having left the West Coast via Haast Pass, we entered Otago’s Makarora Valley hoping for a view of the famous Blue Pools—but alas, we’d brought the West Coast weather with us. Onward into the Southern Lakes and on a whim, a stop for the night on the shores of Lake Hāwea. After re-supplying in Wānaka, we continued south to reconnoitre Lake Dunstan. We took advantage of good weather to sample a section of the cycle trail along said lake, as far as the floating refreshments. Roxburgh happens to be further south still, deeper into Central Otago, where we based ourselves at a cherry orchard for some recharging.
Coordinates
Makarora Valley
We had cloudy views from Cameron Flat, looking north up Makarora River valley. The valley was carved out by glaciers 20,000 yrs ago, in what is now Mt. Aspiring National Park (first photo). The Makaroa River was silted after heavy rain (second photo) and the Blue Pools were not at all blue (third photo). We walked onto the river bed (fourth photo) and as the rain restarted, decided we’d come back another time to see the pools as they should be seen:
Our visit was by no means in vain, however. We saw berries on bushes (weeping matipo or Myrsine divaricata; first photo); berries on the ground (prostrate snowberry or Gaultheria macrostigma; third photo); purple pouch fungus (Cortinarius porphyroideus; third photo); and orange peel fungus (Aleuria aurantia; fourth photo):
Although we didn’t get photos (no long lens taken on the walk), we did see several titipounamu/ rifleman and—most fortuitously— a solitary endangered mōhua/ yellowhead (Mohoua ochricephala), with it’s canary-yellow head/ breast.
Lake Wānaka
From the Makarora Valley the road south leads to Lake Wānaka. While the views from the lookout were worth the brief stop, to our disappointment the area had clearly been used as a bin/ toilet.
Lake Hāwea
SH6 veers off from Lake Wānaka to run alongside Lake Hāwea, before reaching the town of Wānaka. As you crest the hill Lake Hāwea comes into view:
Driving down the hill we observed a van exiting from a side road, and pulled in to investigate. Thus, on a whim, we followed the gravel road through a working farm towards Kidds Bush (first photo), a reserve since 1891 on shores of Lake Hāwea. The lake (second and third photos), in common with Lake Wānaka, was formed when its glacier gouged out a trench that subsequently filled with melt water. We saw a climbing nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) sporting multicoloured berries on the nature walk behind the DOC camp (final photo):
In the morning we continued south, stopping for views at Lake Hāwea Lookout:
Lake Dunstan
A stop in Wānaka itself was needed so we could catch up on “vanlife admin”. If unfamiliar, this typically involves the following chores (the last few of which we postponed on this occasion):
- 🧺 Laundry
- ♻️ Recycling
- 🗑️ Rubbish disposal
- 🛒 Groceries
- ⛽️ Fuel
- 🅿️ Identify overnight spot
- 💦 Fresh water in
- 💧Grey water out
- 🧻 Toilet cassette emptying.
Most chores done, from our park-up on the shore of Lake Dunstan we strolled along a section of the Lake Dunstan Cycling and Walking Trail (in the vicinity of the Pisa Moorings). We loved seeing all the lakeside weeping willows (although not a native species):
Views from the Lake Dunstan Trail looked especially fine in autumn colours (first and second photos). Lake Dunstan was created as recently as 1992 by the damming of the Clutha River. We rode only a section of the trail from the Cromwell end. Stopping for pizza at the first vineyard we came across was tempting, but we continued on into the gorge, where the track is literally bolted onto the cliff in places (third photo). Just after Pickaxe Bluff Bridge, the Coffeafloat and Burgerafloat boats await your order:
The boats are quite a novel concept, and the goal of reaching them quite motivating!
Roxburgh
Spending a few days recharging batteries (ours and Curiosity‘s) on a cherry orchard in Roxburgh seemed like the thing to do. Here are some photos from our initial wander around the vicinity of our pitch. We found it remarkable how distinctly different the landscape and vegetation of semi-arid Central Otago is from the West Coast; it was almost as if we’d arrived in an entirely new (possibly European) country:
The Clutha Gold Trail is a two-day/ 73km cycle, one of NZ’s Great Rides. We incorporated part of it into a 30km circuit from the orchard we stayed at, beginning at the official trailhead with a view from Roxburgh Dam (first photo). It’s an easy ride along the Clutha River (second photo) into Roxburgh (we detoured into town for one of Jimmy’s Pies; the queue went out the door!). Although getting cold and intermittently damp, we enjoyed more riverside scenery (third photo) before reaching Pinder’s Pond (final photo), at which point we turned back.
The next challenge would be to find somewhere to spend the long Easter weekend—without being where everybody else would be.
Join us on future away missions
Add our 📡 feed or enter your 📧 email for post notifications:
Curiosity Drive 