A2O Day 5 - Glenmac Farmstay to Burnside Homestead

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As expected from the weather forecast, it started to rain. We left in rain, we arrived in rain.

We geared up for the wet weather and left Glenmac and headed for Duntroon down country roads and then onto the main Waitaki road to Duntroon. We had a head wind which wasn't too much of an issue if you could "draft" behind someone else. Just before Duntroon we stopped to check out the Maori Rock Drawings on a limestone cliff close to the road. Much of drawings were either worn off by weather or animals rubbings against them. I found the fossils in the limestone far more interesting - of course!

We then stopped in at the Flying Pig Café. A great place to stop. The building had been beautifully restored and decorated as had the surroundings. The coffee was excellent and the food looked great - we didn't try it because our packed lunch was more than adequate.

Next door to here is the Vanishing World Information Centre. I have been there and will probably call there in a few days. For the others it was just too wet to stop and check out the Centre or any of the fossil locations out of Duntroon. We had one objective - to get out of the rain and get to Burnside! Biking was proving to be most unenjoyable. Add to that the wind and hill after hill after hill on water logged gravel roads and you can guess the enjoyment factor. For me = 0. I was having problems with breathing and dead legs. The fuel tank was running on empty.

Most of us caught up with each other at a hay barn where we had lunch. At least it was a dry place. From there on we followed the A2O signs automatically since it was too miserable to look at the scenery. To top of the day, the instructions to get to Burnside were not correct on the map and we had gone right past a few kms ago. After some discussion and a phone call we headed back down and up the road whence we had come. The fuel tank by now was well and truly empty, but we were warmly welcomed by Allison and Bruce at Burnside and what a place to be welcomed to. It was enough to take the mind off the appalling conditions of the day. Our gear was hosed off, hung up or put out to wash. We had showers and I had a lovely hot bath where grit and mud was dispersed. We then settled into a lovely afternoon tea and relaxation by an open fire. Lovely!

Burnside Homestead is worth checking out on the internet. It is a most superb huge house, beautifully restored by Allison and Bruce and an absolute credit to them. There are 9 bedrooms all done in period furniture. All have ensuites and some have substantial bathrooms. The garden looks lovely but we are yet to explore that as we need the rain to stop. Imagine: take yourself back a hundred years to a gracious house with lovely hosts, good food, and wonderful surroundings and you have Burnside.

The weather: it is not surprising that the weather is bad. It was forecast as Cyclone Lusi and has been steadily moving it's way down through the country. There has been high rainfall in the Nelson area and Oamaru down the road has been getting an inch an hour. No wonder we were very wet. What a change from yesterday.

Our dinner this night was superb. Served in a traditional setting, we had lamb loaf, beetroot and feta, potatoes, pumpkin, beans and capsicum and corn followed by a desert of apple and raspberry sponge with a fruit sauce, cream or icecream. Our hosts wore traditional clothes and did a fine job of serving and hosting.

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Photos

At the Maori rock drawings
Near Duntroon. This location also has good fossil specimens

Being hosed down at Burnside Homestead
Bikes and people needed hosing down for mud and grit

From the front entrance to the lounge
Looking through to the lounge fireplace at Burnside Homestead

Relaxation around the fire
Burnside Homestead lounge