Striking it rich with a week of biking, hiking and pinot in high desert country
Alexandra is in the heart of Central Otago, which is the most arid part of NZ (very like a desert) and was the main gold mining area in the gold rush days. There are rivers, gorges, miners’ ruins, wineries and orchards, all on top of what drew us – loads of bike trails and hiking paths. It is strangely beautiful – more reds and golds than the greens and blues that we are accustomed to in this magnificent country.
Monday – Move Day
I enjoyed a last morning walk along the shore of beautiful Lake Manapouri, then the usual pack and clean and we headed northeast to our next destination. The first part of the drive was a repeat of our drive down, but still scenic as we sped past various small ranges and endless farms and pastures before arriving along the deserted southwest shores of Lake Wakitipu. At a lookout, we were suddenly back in the tourist crowd and knew we were approaching Queenstown.
We stopped in the Qtown area again for walking, but again on the fringes where we were alone on our first hike on Jack Point. A steep walk over a golden hill rewarded us with great views of the lake and a nice jaunt along the shoreline. We were entertained on the return watching skydivers jumping into a nearby field, all against the backdrop of The Remarkables range. It was interesting to see this edge of developmental sprawl – from pasture, to pasture converted into adventure activity, to a full blown upscale golf course and housing estate.
Next stop was Kepler Peninsula for lunch (complete with views of wakeboarding and hydro-attacking (a crazy new watercraft toy) and then an easy but super enjoyable stroll around the tip. In addition to pretty shoreline, we had not only shade trees but also interesting art since the walk is a sculpture trail.
Grocery shopping and a stint in traffic and then we were free of the madness with just two hours to Alexandra. The terrain along the way was very interesting with red rocky gorges and hillsides, blue rivers and dammed lakes.
Our place in Alexandra was fantastic – we were in a purpose built apartment above a garage with beautiful artwork and views out into the surrounding fields and hills, including the very unique clock on the hill. We tried to figure out why they did this, but were only able to learn that they put it up in 1966 with 84% of the residents in approval. They added the neon LED in 2017. It seems tacky, but in the end I like it.
Tip: To see enlarged pictures and descriptions from the gallery blocks, just click on the first picture and a window with larger images will open that you can click through in slideshow mode.
Tuesday
We met our host, Owen, who is bubbling over with energy and hospitality. He works below us in an office in the garage (yes, the garage building is huge – including our much larger than we need 2-bedroom apartment.) Our other host, Sue, is a nurse who bikes to work in Clyde each day and we got to meet her the next day. We’ve already made friends with 2 of the other 3 hosts – Ramsay the cat and Jake the dog. There’s another cat who has no interest in us, but Ramsay is happy to spend every minute on Hale’s lap on the deck.
I spent most of the morning trying to figure out a solution to our accommodation for two weeks from now in Twizel. My host there had informed me that there would be a planned power outage for three of the days so that wasn’t going to work for us. Getting a penalty-free cancellation should be easy but isn’t and finding a replacement home is even harder. (Happily within 24 hours I had it all sorted.)
Hale had a chill day while I spent the afternoon biking and hiking three local trails. First up was the Roxburgh Gorge Trail, where I cycled the first part and then switched to walking when it got too technical. (With my rare, very early onset osteoporosis (and lifelong clumsiness), I have to remind myself that crash-prone activities could result in a fractured spine.) The landscape along here is otherworldly – like walking on Mars, except for the blue-green water flowing through below.
Next up was an easy, shady trail (the Clyde Alexandra Anniversary Trail), still along the Clutha, but going the other direction from Alexandra. After I crossed the river and had a wander around cute historic Clyde, I headed back on my third trail of the day.
It’s the least scenic, but in some ways the most exciting because it is the start of the Central Otago Rail Trail. This is the first such trail in NZ and is the model for all the others, which are designed to provide recreation but also to drive tourism dollars into areas that need it. This old gold mining part of the country lost its real railroad in the 1980s and the small towns were dying out – the trail and all the money-spending riders have revived them.
The trail was built by our much loved DOC and maintained in collaboration with a trust made up of local businesses. I started reading about this trail years ago and it led me to want to do a lot of riding during our time in NZ, so arriving at the start of the trail felt special.
It’s an easy ride and I livened it up with a stop at Dunstan Road winery. It ended up being a wonderful experience where I spent about 45 minutes chatting with the owner who is also the farmer, the winemaker and the tasting room host – he is a one-man show. In addition to talking about all things under the sun, I enjoyed learning about his back-to-basics organic processes.
No spraying for weeds – just send the sheep in and they will eat them before they begin pruning the lower leaves from the vine. No need to worry about them eating the grapes this time of year – they are too acidic. Biggest worry right now is that a ram has jumped the fence to join all his ewes.
Owen and Sue invited us to pick all we wanted from their massive vegetable garden and I made a marvelously fresh salad with multiple kinds of lettuce and herbs, topped with red, red tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. It turned out to be a very good eating week.
Wednesday
We were out early to beat the heat for riding (yesterday was brutal) although by the time we drove to our starting point, it was mid-morning. We did another part of the Otago rail trail, starting in Ranfurly, biking through somewhat dull pastureland, enlivened by interesting signs outlining the gold mining and rock mining history, and then into the very pretty Daisybank area with its interesting rock formations and oasis-like gully before turning around in Hyde.
The last 20k were a slog into a headwind, but I was mainly just happy that the clouds rolled in and kept the temps down. Back home for a quiet evening playing with the pets and picking from the garden.
Thursday
I was up early again to get in a good hike before the heat of the day and in order to stay primarily in the morning shade provided by the mountains. Today I walked the opposite side of the Roxburgh Gorge from my first bike ride on Tuesday. This hike starts directly across the tributary from our place, accessed via the “Shaky Bridge.” The scenery was similar (out of this world rock formations) but as a hike rather than a bike, the trail was much more intimate with the land and I really enjoyed it.
Also fascinating were the many ruins from the gold mining days, some fully built rock buildings and others where the stone had just been used to complete a room that natural formations had already created – like the final walls of an open cave. Illuminating to think how rough the miners’ lives were doing backbreaking work all day and living this way at night. And all for the sake of shiny gold. Being here and seeing the lengths man will go to in order to mine the earth makes me wonder.
On my return, I met a woman named Wendy picking mulberries from an ancient tree (likely planted by one of those Chinese miners) who was happy to share her “secret” with me and they were delicious. (When I came home, Hale thought I’d been hurt because of the “blood” drippings on my chin – oops!) What was even better though was listening to her stories.
A Kiwi who, with her husband, had worked for ten years to get a wooden sailboat ready to sail around the world, and then on their first trip (to Alaska!!) they ran into multiple storms, fractured the steering quadrant, took on water rapidly and eventually had to be saved by a freighter who dropped them in the US right on September 11. They had lost everything on the boat, but didn’t turn to a boring life. Instead they bought a canal boat in Holland and spent many years cruising Europe for six months while spending the other six here in NZ in an old stone cottage in Saint Bathan. Now, with old age a reality, they have future proofed by moving to walkable Alexandra.
Hale was having a chill day since it had turned too gusty for kiting and I joined him, spending the rest of the afternoon updating this journal, working on pictures, etc.
Friday
Another early start for us, this time to Cromwell for hiking. Armed with suggestions from the TI, we climbed up Cairnmure Hill to a great view over Cromwell, Bannockburn, the rivers and Lake Dunstan. Ready for refreshment once down, we stopped in to a winery for a wonderful tasting. Their top dollar Pinot Noir was quite possibly the best wine I’ve ever had, but well out of our price range so we settled for a yummy Pinot Gris. (Wine tastings in NZ are generally free if you buy a bottle, or 5-10/pp if you don’t.)
After a picnic lunch, we hiked the Bannockburn Sluicings and learned all about the methods used for alluvial gold mining in this area. It uses vast amounts of waters and tears up the land, leaving behind the strangest gulleys, pinnacles and cliffsides. It was fascinating and the colors were beautiful, which is hard to say about somewhere man has torn up to take the minerals.
Speaking of taking, I was delighted to find apricot trees full of ripe fruit in the ghost town and began feasting. Before long I had climbed up one to fill all my pockets and returned to the car laden down with bounty.
Saturday
Up even earlier to beat not just the heat today, but also the predicted afternoon gusty winds and my foolish idea that on a Saturday the rail trail would be busy with locals. For the first three hours of my ride, I didn’t see a single other cyclist! And after that, about ten total. There are just not a lot of people in NZ.
And I certainly beat the heat. The area we are in is hot as blazes in the afternoons and quite chilly some nights/mornings, such as the 9C/42F on this morning. It was two hours before I could even take my gloves and jacket off.
It was a fun ride from my doorstep to Oterehua, with much the same scenery as Tuesday mixed in with another beautiful gorge, multiple tunnels and a viaduct bridge. Hale picked me up and we headed north to the tiny old gold town of Saint Bathans and its Blue Lake. We expected a sleepy place, but it was hopping with a big family, a wedding party and lots of motorcyclists all at the historic Vulcan Hotel pub.
The Blue Lake (which wasn’t blue in the cloudy, windy afternoon) was created during the gold mining days when all the “tailings” (the waste from mining) were burying the town. We hiked all around it, reading the history as we went. The piles of this soil around the lake are eerily pretty, yet again cause you to wonder – all for what?
Sunday
Walking along each river bank here and then up to the Clock on the Hill was a good way to start a rainy day. Home for brunch with Hale and then we both settled into our laptops to work on logging backwards and planning forwards.
We finally ventured out for an evening walk, where I shared the secret mulberry tree’s delights with Hale.
Wrap
Alexandra was a great base for a relaxing week of biking, hiking, learning history and relaxing. Our Airbnb here was really top notch, both in quality and in the welcoming spirit of our hosts. That added to our pleasure in the week and it was very fun to have a few pets around for extra entertainment. Our “zero kilometer” fresh food consumption from their garden was complemented by the wonderful stone fruit season all around.
This was also the first week we have spent in desert territory and we were surprised at how much we enjoyed it. Neither of us would want it permanently – we missed the green too much. But the dry air, lack of bugs, cool evenings and mornings (for me) and hot days (for Hale) were a nice mix.
Week 15 of our journey