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Published: August 31st 2008
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Toy Museum
.....Brett noticed a "Toy and Transport Museum", he is an avid model car collector Another cold, but beautiful morning greeted us we awoke in Wanaka. After "dumping" the waste from the motorhome, we returned to Ardmore St for breakfast and another look around fabulous Wanaka before we continued our journey. Yesterday afternoon as we drove pass the Wanaka Airport about 10kms out of the town, Brett noticed a "Toy and Transport Museum", he is an avid model car collector, so he pestered me to stop off and take a look today. We planned to spend about half an hour wandering around the museum, but it was so interesting we stayed for nearly two hours, well worth a look. I was more interested in a terrific boutique brewery,"BeerWorks" next door..... not a bad drop!! With our schedule shot to pieces, we finally hit the road for the 50km drive to Cromwell.
Cromwell is a size able town in Central Otago in the Otago region.situated between State Highway 6 (linking to Wanaka, 50 km north, and Queenstown, 60 km west). Cromwell was originally known as "The Junction," being at the confluence of the Clutha and Kawarau Rivers. In 1862, gold was discovered below the Junction by two miners, Hartley and Reilly. Once the word of a
Fire Chief
.......We planned to spend about half an hour wandering around the museum, but it was so interesting we stayed for nearly two hours, well worth a look. gold strike was out, there was an influx of several thousand miners to the area. But as gold ran out, Cromwell became the service centre for an extensive farming and stone fruit growing area.This is commemorated with a giant sculpture of stone fruit which stands outside the northern end of the town.
Actually the reason we travelled 80kms out of our way, was not so much to visit Cromwell, but to visit Bannockburn, about 7kms out of Cromwell. We live in Bannockburn, Victoria, Australia so it was exciting to see our sister town in NZ. Bannockburn NZ is an historic town which was once the centre of a thriving and successful gold mining industry. Remnants include the hotel, Post Office, Stewart's store, and many old dwellings. Now a restful area centred around viticulture and agriculture, as is our home town. The welcome sign on the south side of the Kawarau River was reconstructed from the original suspension bridge's pillars.(see photo). We visited Bannockburn Wines to buy a nice red and white for nostalgia sake, before we rejoined Highway 6.
We had not travelled far before we entered into the narrow and twisting Kawarau Gorge. The highway passes the
Cromwell Fruit
.......This is commemorated with a giant sculpture of stone fruit which stands outside the northern end of the town. Nevis Bluff, a steep schist rock outcrop rising 100 m above the Kawarau River. The highway has a history of being disrupted and closed at this point due to instability and rock falls from the bluff. The first road around the bluff was constructed in 1866, opening access to the Wakatipu goldfields. Significant slips occurred at the bluff. On September 17, 2000, a large-scale rock fall buried the highway at the bluff, and several motorists narrowly avoided being killed. After negotiating the Nevis Bluff and starting the descent into Queenstown we came across the The Kawarau Bridge, at 43m above the river, it is the site of the world's first commercial bungy jumping operation.
The "Bungy" is a spectacular multi million dollar development. Entering the complex you feel like you are walking into a small concrete bunker, but once you enter, you walk around and around down the spiral walkway that takes down through the wall of the gorge to a very impressive administration/retail area. You can venture outside to the viewing area to watch the "jumpers", so close I could see the jeans of one "jumper" become very damp as she leaped into the canyon. Unbelievably, these crazy "jumpers"
Bannockburn
......We live in Bannockburn, Victoria, Australia so it was exciting to see our sister town in NZ pay $169 so they can wet themselves and have most of their body dunked in the Kawarau River. Totally enjoyed watching "bungy", time to head to Arrowtown for lunch.
Arrowtown is a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island located on the banks of the Arrow River approximately 5 km from State Highway 6. There is also road access directly to Queenstown via the Shotover Gorge and a third route via the picturesque Lake Hayes.
During the high point of the gold rush the population of Arrowtown rose to over 7,000 and became the center of a larger municipality, which covered the new settlements of Macetown, Skippers and Bullendale (today only ghost towns). Arrowtown maintains its historic significance with the main streets original reconstruction.
The Arrowtown Bakery looked good for lunch, the menu offered over twenty different flavoured pies. Ordered the "Lamb and Mint" pie with salad and chips...... I never imagined the best pie I have ever eaten would be somewhere other than Australia. After lunch we browsed the period shops in the historic Buckingham St before returning to our motorhome via the fabulous bars and eateries along Ramshaw Lane.
Back on
Jump You Chicken
.......we came across the The Kawarau Bridge, at 43m above the river, it is the site of the world's first commercial bungy jumping operation. the road again, it was a short drive to Francton, virtually a suburb of picturesque Queenstown, for a fuel stop. From Francton we continued on Highway 6 toward Invercargill. The road takes us past Queenstown Airport and across a historic single lane suspension bridge that crosses high above the Kawarau River where it flows into Lake Wakatipu. The highway follows the southeastern shore of this lake for 40 kilometres of spectacular scenery, skirting the foot of The Remarkables (a mountain range and skifield located on the southeastern shore of Lake Wakatipu, the range lives up to its name by rising sharply to create an impressive backdrop for the waters.) before leaving the lake at the small township Kingston, and continues into lush green undulating farmland. As we travelled further south, dark clouds increasingly filled the sky with dirty weather building on the horizon. At Five Rivers a small rural community, we turned right onto Highway 94 to take us to Te Anau our overnight stopover. It was not too long before that weather we had been watching caught up with us. The sun setting low in a very black angry sky created a surreal and extremely eerie environment, as the
Bungy Bunker
.....Entering the complex you feel like you are walking into a small concrete bunker heavy raindrops began sticking to the windscreen we realized it was snowing. It was exciting for us to watch the landscape turn white as drove along the meandering road. After an hour we arrived at Te Anau, it was a real shock when we felt the freezing cold conditions after travelling two hours in a nice warm vehicle.
Te Anau is a tourist town in the South Island of New Zealand. It is on the eastern shore of Lake Te Anau in Fiordland. Lake Te Anau is the largest lake in the South Island and second only within New Zealand to Lake Taupo. It is the last town passed through when travelling to Milford Sound, which lies 120 kilometres to the north. Like us, many travellers stay overnight at Te Anau before driving to and spending the next day exploring Milford Sound. We stayed overnight at the Te Anau Mountainview Top 10 Holiday Park. Situated walking distance from both lakeside and the shopping area, this brand new park is sensational. The amenities are second to none, with the sites set in delightful manicured garden settings. By far the best tourist park we seen across New Zealand.
Hit
For the Watchers
........You can venture outside to the viewing area to watch the "jumpers" the sack early.....big day tomorrow up at Milford Sound.
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Janut
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CAN'T WAIT
Many thanks for the information on this area. We cannot wait to get there in Feb 2009. The Remarkables look lovely.