We had set the alarm for 6.45 am but once again beat it and were up and on the road just before 7.00 am. Our first stop for today was to drive to the Hermitage Hotel for breakfast at the base of Mt Cook. We had planned to do this when we first saw photos of the hotel restaurant which has massive glass windows providing views looking out to Mt Cook. Our drive skirted along the edge of Lake Pukaki so we had beautiful turquoise blue water with mountains rising out of the waters edge.
We arrived at the hotel to find Mt Cook shrouded in clouds. Over a delicious buffet breakfast (yes we made pigs of ourselves) the cloud slowly lifted and the snow capped peaks appeared with glorious blue sky and hints of sunlight hitting the surface. It was magical. A sight we will never forget. We passed a lavender farm on our journey ... fields of purple 💜
Into our car we headed back towards Twizel on route to the Clay Cliffs which are just out of Omarama. The cliffs are on private land and there is an honesty box where you put your $5 admission fee (per vehicle). Honestly they could have charged way more and it would have been worth it. The cliffs rise out of the ground in colours of creams, whites and yellows. They are incredible and the short hike in to see them up close is worth every step and is lined with beautiful lupins of deep pink, purple, white and variegated. The cliffs reminded us a lot of the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon in Utah.
Leaving the cliffs we headed onward to Omarama where we stopped to complete a very short Ad Lab which included a grave sitting on a vacant block of land with houses on either side. Creepy. Then we continued our journey which was taking us from one side of New Zealand to the other ... from the mountains to the sea.
We stopped along the way to look at Waitiki Dam which was built in the 1960s and the abandoned housed that were left when construction was completed. The village which has 6 houses each with 3 bedrooms and a large central lodge complete with a billiard room is for sale of anyone is interested for a cool NZ$ 2.8 million!
We also grabbed a quick Ad Lab at Duntroon. A tiny little township with some lovely buildings, an old gaol, a wetland and a sunken cave. We also stopped to see the Maori rock paintings at Takiroa painted into the limestone cliffs.
We reached the coast and wandered the streets of Oamaru. This city is known as the whitestone city as many of the buildings have been constructed using the local Oamaru limestone that was collected from the nearby quarry. Our Ad Lab took us to the historic port area which was lined with buildings dating back to the mid 1880s as well as to a few architectural gems in tne main street.
As we skirted along the coast on our way to Dunedin we stopped at the Meoraki Boulders which are large spherical stones scattered across the beach. Each boulder weighs several tonnes with the largest being about 2 metres high. Scientists estimate that they were formed about 65 million years ago.
A stop for petrol, a clean of the windscreen by Ian whilst I headed off to the toilet and grabbed three clues on an Ad Lab by the time he caught up with me ... at which point we finished it off together and headed on to Dunedin - our stop for the next 2 nights. Arriving in to Dunedin we detoured to Baldwin Street which is the steepest street in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records. We parked at the bottom and immediately walked to the top ... admittedly with a few stops to catch our breath on the way. We answered the clues for the Ad Lab whilst we were there too 😀!
Dinner at an Italian restaurant (where an Aussie pizza is called The Kiwi) before heading to our hotel to check in and relax at the end of a long but fun and adventurous day.
Today's tally ...
Photos taken ... 404
Steps walked ...17,352
Kms walked ...13.42 km
Ad Labs completed ... 5
Such beautiful views!! You are correct about those canyons looking like Bryce!! And such beautiful churches!!
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