Tuesday, 6 June 2023

South Island — November 2022 – Part 3

I’m finally getting around to writing up our 2022 South Island Holiday. Again, we went during the couple of weeks straddling November and December. Last year, we had a trip to the same part of the South Island at around same time of year. This time, John particularly wanted to spend a few days at Lake Ohau Lodge – to do some cycling, to just ‘hang out’ and take lots of photos, and to enjoy the Lodge’s delicious meals. And we also wanted to spend several days in Arrowtown, another one of our favourite places.

This is quite a long story, so I have written it up in five parts:

Part 1: Wellington to Christchurch

Part 2: Christchurch to Arrowtown

Part 3: Arrowtown to Lake Ohau

Part 4: Two days at Lake Ohau

Part 5: Ohau to Oxford, and home

Part 3 – Arrowtown to Lake Ohau, via Cardrona

Thursday 1 December – Arrowtown to Lake Ohau

On our last day in Arrowtown, it rained. But the day we left to go to Ohau, it turned out to be a beautiful day. We drove to Wanaka via the Crown Range, and Cardrona. We stopped several times to take in the view and take photos.

Arrowtown and the Arrow Valley, and the backdrop of the Remarkables (DP)

Frankton and Queenstown in the distance, from halfway up the Crown Range road …

… and looking the other way

Closer to the top, the land is more rugged (DP)

The tourists are back!

Last year, when we drove through here, we didn’t stop at Cardrona, and I was a bit underwhelmed. However, this time we did stop, and were pleasantly surprised. I didn’t know that the Cardrona Hotel was still a functioning venue. In fact, it featured a cosy pub, a café and lovely seating outside in a pretty garden. And there is actually accommodation.

The Cardrona Hotel

A lovely garden setting

A delightful cottage garden

We ordered coffee and cheese scones and sat outside, but we were plagued by very brazen sparrows and blackbirds. I went for a wander in the garden, and when I got back, John said that when he took his eyes off the scones on the table, one sparrow had lifted my scone right off its plate, before being shooed off. It was quite a big scone, I don’t know how such a little bird could do that.

Cheeky birds!

A gorgeous peony (DP)

A gap in the hedge led to another part of the garden, where a year’s supply of firewood was neatly stacked, and drying in the sun. I imagine it will get very cold in the winter at this altitude, and they will need all of that.

A year’s supply of firewood

Inside the pub

A glass window in the floor revealed a display of a mine shaft

We didn’t stop at Wanaka, but pushed on towards the Lindis Pass. Except we missed a turning, and ended up at Hawea Flat. We have done that once before, I think. So we u-turned and continued (Siri helped …).

The Lindis Pass was magnificent as always, but much greener than in previous years. And lots of areas of lupins, only they were not very brightly visible, as they were not yet fully in flower. The lower you got in altitude, on the way down, the further up the stalk they were flowering.

Once down from the Lindis, I was on the lookout for the spot where I knew there was a gate that would allow us to take a closer look at the Ahuriri River, which, at this time of year, has masses of lupins flowering in or near the riverbed. I saw it, but we zoomed past it, so I asked to go back, as I really wanted to take some photos there.

Such a glorious sight! (DP)

The stream is quite narrow here, on its way to the Ahuriri River. (DP)

The stream joins the Ahuriri River – or perhaps it is just part of a braided river (DP)

More lupins galore! (DP)

I had been wanting to stop there for the past couple of years, so now I have managed to ‘scratch that itch’. From here (near Omarama), it wasn’t far to the Lake Ohau turn-off. But I was actually a surprisingly long road from SH8 to the Lodge. We drove up into the Ohau Alpine Village, where those dreadful fires burnt a lot of the houses a couple of years ago. Rebuilding is going on apace, I think and it’s looking very good.

Ben Ohau dominates the lake

Looking towards the top of the lake (DP)

Lake Middleton, with some of the Ohau Alpine Village, and the road to the ski field beyond (DP)

We got to Lake Ohau Lodge at about 3:30. We signed in, told we were in room 72 right down the end, we could park right outside it. The room was a little disappointing – looking a bit tired, and there were no comfy chairs, just two ‘desk’ chairs, a tiny fridge, no TV, and no Internet. But TV and Internet were available in the lounge and dining room upstairs. In a way, it was quite good to be cut off from the “outside world” …

We could park right outside our room

After a while we went for a walk, down to the lake (quite a steep track), then along the road for about a kilometre. I had spotted – from outside our room – that there was a red glow in some of the distant trees, and I wanted to know if that was the native red mistletoe. It was. We found quite a lot of it growing in the old trees, some trees had been completely taken over. It is so beautiful, it just glows against the dark background of the trees..

The NZ native red mistletoe (Peraxilla tetrapetala)

Some trees were completely taken over by the mistletoe

The old beech trees that the mistletoe likes to grow on

Lupins and mistletoe – and John (DP)

As we walked along the road, there were fabulous views of the lake and the mountains. This place is so spectacularly beautiful, especially on such a fine day.

A beautiful gnarly old tree (DP)

I think Lake Ohau is one of the most beautiful places in NZ

A dragon lurked near the track …

We clambered back up the steep track, and John had a lie-down, as he was quite tired, and his balance was really bad. I sat and read. I woke John at 6:45, because dinner was at 7. I should have woken him earlier, as they were waiting for us.

The special feature of Lake Ohau Lodge is their Dinner, Bed and Breakfast package, and the excellence of their food. Also, instead of people siting at small tables as in a restaurant, here, you are allocated a place at one of several long tables for ten or twelve, so you get to meet new people and have interesting conversations.

The dining room was full – most of the patrons being cyclists riding the A2O (Alps to Ocean) trail, either on their own, or through a cycle touring company, of which there are quite a few now. These people just stayed overnight, so for the three nights we were there, we had different table companions every time.
The three-course set menu was superb, as expected: soup with freshly baked bread, a choice of two mains with vegetables, and a dessert. To finish, you could help yourself to coffee or tea, or you could order barista-style coffee.

While we were eating, the clouds over Mt Cook cleared and the mountains looked wonderful. Later, back in our room, John took lots of pictures (on tele-lens) of the mountains, as Mt Cook gradually turned pink.