Monday, February 22, 2010

Cruising on the mighty Clutha River

This past warm and lovely Monday evening, we went on the Clutha River cruise. We went with Steve and Sandy, who are trying to get in all the sights of the area since their locums time on the South Island comes to an end on Friday.

I had heard their ads on the radio consistently and they were pretty cute (Steve may be an Aussie, but he really knows his stuff!). The focus of the cruise is the gold rush history of the area. We learned that the Otago region on New Zealand went from being the poorest region with almost no population to one of the richest regions with a booming population almost overnight in 1861. Since there was no forest along the river (due to the way Maori hunted Moa)the workers lived in very small huts carved into the rocky bank of the river.
From New Zealand
From New Zealand
We got a chance to get out and explore some of the huts, that had been everything from homes to general stores!
From New Zealand
From New Zealand
Along with the history lesson and hike, we had delicious wine, cheese and other good stuff.
From New Zealand
Gotta enjoy the summer while it's here!

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