http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania , New Zealand , South Island , Central Otago en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:20:51 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:20:51 UTC With heater running all night we awoke next morning to a warm comfortable motorhome. That was until I opened the door and stepped outside onto a layer of lovely white fresh snow and the temperature touching around minus three degrees. Even though it was so cold the sun was shining bright causing the snow to melt very quickly. With such a beautiful morning we were anxious to get on the road ea http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Wanaka/blog-316357.html April 14 April 22 2008. Central Otago adventureWe flew from Wellington to Christchurch 29 oneway fares to experience a Southern hemisphere autumn in one of the most beautiful areas of NZ.Emily found a relocation deal online with the vehicle rental company Jucy who market themselves as the best secondtier rental company in NZ. We got a campervan an RV the Jucy CHARGA. It was a 3 http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-271427.html CROMWELLOur home for the next 4 days in Cromwell was the Police Holiday Home as the weather had turned a little bit cooler it was nice to be out of the caravan and staying in a home. It was intended to be a relaxing time but we did manage to get in some local 4WD trips and a trip to Queenstown. The new Cromwell town is situated on Lake Dunstan which is a man made lake as a result of the Clyde Hy http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Cromwell/blog-267914.html Sheryll and I have been coming back to Naseby for holidays for over 10 years now. The first time was with all of the 3 children and we were booked into a Miners Cabin which is basically 4 walls and a roof around a double bed the guys were meant to be sleeping in a tent beside the Cabin. When we arrived it had been raining for about 3 hours and there was about 3 inches of water flowing through t http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Naseby/blog-262600.html MT BUSTER AND MT KYEBURNLast year when we were staying at Naseby one evening it turned very cold and we awoke the next morning to a dusting of snow on the Mt Ida ranges behind the Motorcamp we looked up out topographical maps and tried to work out a way of getting closer to the snow. Mt Buster just in behind Naseby is where it all seemed to have happened so we rugged up and headed off towards t http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Naseby/blog-262269.html PANNING DREDGING FOR GOLD AT NASEBYNaseby is a unique old gold mining town of about 86 permanent residents and about 280 homes of which most are holidays homes or as they are known in the South Island Cribs. It was thelocation of a Gold Rush to the Hogburn stream in the 1860's and it was to here that my Gt gt Grandfather Charles Roberts came after leaving the goldfields of Victoria Australia.M http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-262263.html Decided to spend the day in Geraldine and not use the car Before breakfast went on the Pioneer Walk which went up and down hills for about an hour. Saw some interesting homes and lots of beautiful rosesWalked to Geraldine and went shopping tasted cheese saw chocolate ate icecream visited the rose gardens walked through the Domain and by the pool then back to the motel for lunch through http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-252097.html Today went for a walk before breakfast along the Clutha River a lovely 14km walk from Alexandra to Clyde we parked up and walked about 4kms one way and then back for breakfast total of 11500 steps.Went to Clyde a little old fashioned village and took a look at the hydro dam while we were there fascinated by the colour of the water a really deep turquoise blue. Took lots of photos a http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-251804.html Today we set off from Dunedin after a final walk at St Clair. Drove to Millers Flat for lunch and then stopped at Roxborough Hydro Dam. Drove on to Alexandria and booked in at 230 easy driving 100kms per hour all the way with hardly any traffic and nice roads too. Nice motel really clean and host Dene very helpful and friendly. 38 degrees in Alexandria today so stayed at motel and swam in http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-251732.html We have had our minds blown by wildlife and the harsh winds hitting the south Island of NZ direct from the Antartic. The Van is still going just about and we are in high spirits. Carrying on from the last entry we gave the new wheels a good old wash down and filled her up with supplies from NZs equivalent to Lidl PAK N SAVE. On the first day's voyage we didn't get too far from C Church about http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-251479.html Well we are now wrapping up our five weeks at Denny's Orchard before moving on from our Alex and Clyde homes. To share more about what we actually do there we took the camera in for a closer look at how cherries and pears are processed. Below you can see the process a cherry goes through in the packing plant from being sorted graded stems separated then down the cleansing 'waterslides' be http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-247044.html So after a nice two days off with many kms and petrol we were back at work switching from peaches and apricots to cherries in full swing. With the new direction we also got new work mates. It could have started off more smoothly the first two days with the new crew were rendered useless as the graders were not doing a good enough job for export standards. Therefore on the day we were suppo http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-243713.html After helping the orchard get caught up on the fruit backlog our first seven days of work was rewarded with two days off and a 5kg box of 2nd grade cherries we thoroughly enjoyed both. We took to the road straight from work to explore some of the treasures Central Otago has to offer. First stop was Cromwell where we met Duane and Charlotte at a neighbourhood pub for some supper and to share fr http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-243696.html If one would recall from our last blog we were about to embark on finding a solution for our season aka jobs. Saturday morning came and we went to seasonal solutions at 10 am. I might add here we knew it was 10 am because there is a large clock in the mountain range that overlooks Alexandra. Anyways we went waited in a small line until we were next. This is when we met Ann. She was one of t http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-241663.html Time keeps moving blogging gets put on the back burner however the blog must live on to give light to our memories and home hemisphere. As the time has past since our last update blog items have tallied therefore expect a string of them over the next while. We will now pick up where we left off in Dunedin. Christina and I were about to leave Dunedin which was a perfect fortress of peers an http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-238893.html Hi Ho Hi Ho... What do you get for your 75 year old Dad Well if you are our family you drag him 159kms along an disused rail road to sleep under bridges and in 5 foot long did I mention he's 6 foot 2 little red sheds in the teeth of a southerly gale. I think he loved it. I did. We set off from our respective homes via plane and car to catch a flight from Wellington to link to a bus from D http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-238226.html Broken River had me going a bit crazy so I headed down the mountain for a couple of days off. Normally I don't mind being stranded on a ski hill provided that there's some skiing. At first the season started out promising. As I was driving up to work two weeks ago snowflakes saturated the air. Unfortunately the following week 90mils of rain completely destroyed the base and since we don' http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-180754.html Broken River Broken River What type of place is this exactly Well here are some Broken River Basics 1. A nutcracker is required to ride the tow. It looks like a medieval torture device and I've gotten my fingers pinched enough times to know that it can also function like one. 2. All bags must be hidden from the Kea birds. A Kea to a pack is like a vulture to roadkill about five mi http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-179820.html The Manitoto Region of Central Otago. Distances to Ranfurly Alexandra Rt8 87kms Duntroon via Danseys Pass 78kms Dunedin via Middlemarch 149kms Naseby 13kms PalmerstonRt1 80kms Milton Rt1 117kms One of the finest ldquooff the main roadrdquo excursions to take in The South Island. It is an area of big sky and mighty vistas with the second highest sunshine count in New Zealand. You http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-167951.html Central Otago the Rail Trail What is the Rail Trail and what is it all about Where can one stay for the night take a break have a coffee rent a bike stop at the pub have a meal. All the places that will make a visit to Otago Central a more fulfilling experience. A person doesnrsquot even have to ride or walk the Rail Trail to enjoy the places in traveling the area. These businesses are http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-166549.html Tareri Gorge Train and Rail Trail Bike RidenbspAustralasia raquonbspNew Zealand raquonbspSouth Island raquonbspCentral Otago By Annie10April 29th 2007 Once again Butler planned a great little excursion. This time we met at the train station and got on the Tarieri George Train for a two hour ride through the Otago Region. The inside of the train was really cute and old fashion and th http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-158843.html We left Queenstown on another bright blue day and headed towards Wanaka. We drove past the turnoff so we could go see the famous A.J Hackett bungy jump one of the original bungy spots. It was really busy there with lots of tour buses in the parking lot. Went to the lookout point hoping to see someone take the plunge 150 a jump. I noticed another vantage point so off I went to check it o http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-155564.html DUNSTAN ROAD 2 TO MOA CREEK VIA THE SERPENTINE CHURCH Ever since I have owned a 4WD I have wanted to visit the Serpentine Church its claim to fame is that it is the highest church in New Zealand thats in altitude not religious order it sits in a lovely golden tussock basin an hour or so drive off the Old Dunstan Rd along a deeply rutted track at about 1030 metres or thats well over 3000 feet http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-151229.html Today we were to have a go at our first real 4WD off road trip we had chosen Gorge Road a short route over high level farm land from Hamilton's to Daisybank near Hyde these three places were already familiar to us as we had cycled though Hyde and Daisybank when we completed the Otago Central Rail Trail in 2005. Hamilton's is also the birth place of several of my relations including that of my http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/blog-151076.html My brother asked to see a picture of the car Sophie and I bought for 800. Here it is.Last week we also went on an unbelievable 3 day kayak experience on the Doubtful Sound. I used a waterproof camera nondigital. It rained every day we were there and there was even snow on the tops of the mountains to 700m. Luckily we didn't get snowed upon but I will tell you it was very cold. Still we h http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Wanaka/blog-140050.html Yesterday I moved in to a house to live with Sophie who I've been travelling with and Bruce the gardener at the hotel. We're looking forward to lots of barbecues and finally getting to cook in a real kitchen. That was the one thing we lacked when Sophie and I were living at the hotel. No kitchen. So we are going to bake lots and lots of delicious muffins.Bruce lives on All Nations Road named a http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Wanaka/blog-133178.html I am finally on the road. I finished work last Friday and spent a great couple of days in Te Anau helping with the start of the Te Anau Aquabatics camp wish I could have stayed the whole week but had to go home to Cromwell to catch up with my family and pack my bags before starting my trip north to Auckland on Friday. http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Cromwell/blog-119883.html My first real New Zealand hike is one of my favorites so far. This was the hike with the 5 fords on the dirt road to the trail head and my famous and inspiring friend Traci from Alaska and another girl Leah from Canada a born again Christian engaged to be married upon her return to the states described in a previous email. The weather was a bit cloudy and we missed a lot of the views on the way http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Wanaka/blog-119783.html We spent the last 8 days on a 400ha farm. the owners of the farm are Jack Claire Davis. The farm has a few thousand sheep and around 200 red deer. We did so many new things while we were there. It will be an experience we will never forget We worked at the farm for food and accomodation so Jack Claire made us a part of their life. Whatever they would do on a normal day at the farm Alis http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Cromwell/blog-101424.html Check out the views. No cotswolds but awesome nonetheless http://www.travelblog.org//Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Central-Otago/Wanaka/blog-69995.html