NZ_24 - A South Island Adventure Odyssey

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Dropping into the Mataura Valley and the southern end of the Nevis at Garston....the vistas are magnificent!

The bench at the Old Garston Ski Hut is just the magic spot for a break.

Everyone seemed to be very happy to get out of their clobber...

All that without a drop of rain all day

 

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Mostly dried out...and ready to finally hit the Thomson Gorge
New day, new tracks....and the first bit of a convoluted route back to Christchurch.

07.30ish at the western ramp.

Looking back and across towards Wanaka. What a weird landscape this is.

Nasty! There are dead Gorse bushes all over the place.
Makes a Shish Kebab out of anything coming its way.

Oh man....and not even a single sheep in sight.

Now it's talk + walk....before it's splash + squelch

 

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Just short of dropping through the final gate into the farmland again, the only living thing for the last 2.5 hours are the farmer and his daughter in the rattly, old Toyota, checking the gates.
Enjoyed the Thomson Gorge even more than anticipated, this time with lots more little water-runs and puddles/streams ....and that strange section where the track becomes the creek-bed with multiple feeds and run-offs.


That one under the belt, it's zigzagging the farmland on dusty gravel to avoid as much of the highway as possible.....and "Disputed Spur Rd." sounds somewhat promising but turns out just a quick run on deep, pre-Christmas gravel. Through Alexandra and down the Clutha Valley's twisties and sweepers, the skies getting lower and darker as we head south. The little, family-run Teviot Tearooms in Roxburgh come good with some excellent monster-burgers, easily the best of the 3 week trip!

Time to get the maps out and imprint the afternoon route into the mental windings. A quick fuel top up, just to make sure as there is absolutely NOTHING up there in the Lammermoors.

 

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What a contrast!

With the strong gusts chasing the clouds along at a frantic rate, this is one eerie place.
The bleak, leaden sky, the sheer nothingness only sometimes broken by a solitary rock....

A rock with bark?

Oh yeah, there are those gusts





The road is surprisingly good,, some soft, sandy patches, some muddy stuff to work your way around.....no probs with the creek crossing at the northern end of Lake Onslow either.







A few drops from above as we pull into Serpentine and the Linburn Runs, the front of that black cloud pushing us right into Ranfurly.
Stop a few seconds for a pic...and there is the faint dribble.

Linburn Runs Rd., ...and past the gate to the Old Dunstan Track again
Not today....

 

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Following the advice of the lady at the Caravan Park, it's a short run in light gear out to Waipiata for a meal at the "best pub on the Plains".
We agree...she must be right. A good place in the right space...at a lazy pace. And the tucker is first rate.

"C'mon, c'mon...I can already smell my Garlic Bread!!"

That'll shut him up....for a second, maybe

Ant just craves another few k's of gravel on the way back to Ranfurly, couldn't miss Mars, eh?









STUNNER

 

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[glipschitz]

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Have you fallen asleep on your keyboard?

 

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Have you fallen asleep on your keyboard?

Text edited....

 

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Started the next bit before getting distracted....then just fell asleep

Reboot then....







A far longer day than expected, ~350k's with about 220k's on gravel


The Art Deco "MilkBar" in Ranfurly in the 7am sun, nostalgia pure.

Soon after, it's a short, slow cruise through still-sleepy Naseby, then up the Danseys Pass

 

[Zuckerbaron]

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What a surplus of signposts - I count 9 signs!