Monday 25 Apr
An earlier start today at 7.45 am, as we hoped to reach Oamaru before the streets were closed for the Anzac Parade at 10-00.
We travelled through more lovely pastureland with Ellen pointing out places of interest as we went. Our first stop was at the Moeraki Boulders, a place I have long wanted to see. They are amazing. Fascinating things, formed by material accruing around a object such as a crab’s shell which continued to gather more material – I thought of a pearl except these things are enormous. Some had split open and you could see the gradual formation which had occurred. Apparently they are actually buried in the cliff face and are slowly emerging as the cliff erodes. Heaven only knows how many more remain to be found. According to Wikipedia, the larger ones (2m or more in diameter) took 4 to 5.5 million years to grow.
Back on the bus and in to Oamaru. Just moments too late to miss the road closure for the Anzac parade but Wayne parked the bus conveniently close and it was a short step to the very wide avenue which is the main street. Beautiful old buildings all built in Oamaru stone. For those who do not know, so are the Auckland Town Hall and main Post Office (now Britomart). Lovely street with a grass and tree lined centre strip.
The parade was very moving with representatives of all the services plus scouts, Girl Guides, St Johns, Fire and Police, etc, etc. The band finished by playing Nearer My God To Thee, just in time for us to head back to the bus.
Wayne took us on a little tiki -tour to see more examples of buildings in the very beautiful stone and then we were off to lunch at Omarama. Their claim to fame is having 'unparalleled gliding conditions'.
From there we took a fascinating trip up the Waitaki River, stopping at the power stations at Aviemore and Benmore for photos. Eight power stations were planned for this river, and I think Benmore was the last to be built. It is the largest earth dam in NZ, and the amount of water in the lake behind it is 1.5 times as much as that in the Wellington Harbour. Everywhere along these lakes are golden poplars shimmering in the breeze, and it is hard to put the camera down. Much pruning of photos will be needed tonight. The lakes and canals are the most brilliant blue, and remind me of the colour of the water around Capri. It comes from the ice-melt off the mountains, and contains mica.
Lake Pukaki is a storage lake, like Hawea, which we saw on the other coast. During the spring and summer, the extra water coming down is stored to provide the extra power needed by the country for heating in winter.
This area has lots of wilding pines, which need a constant eradication program, but DOC have a hard job keeping up with the new ones coming through, which is a shame.
Many areas we have seen on our journey are also covered with gorse.
On the way through the foothills heading up to Mt Cook, Ellen mentioned that the Southern Alps have over 750 different species of alpine plants and flowers. I find that a little hard to imagine.
Mt Cook was there in all his magnificence. I have not said it yet but once again we were enjoying a perfectly fine day. The odd neat cloud on a brilliant blue sky and Mt Cook and his neighbours looked fantastic. The Hermitage is 12 km from the Mount. It was first erected in 1884, rebuilt 1914, destroyed by fire in 1957, and the current reincarnation opened in 1958.
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| One of the lovely windows in the Hermitage |
After lots of photos, we finally gathered together again and wended our way to Twizel, where we are staying the night.
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