Last week we spent more time in one of my favorite places in Central Otago: Ranfurly. Last time we were there I had just injured my hand and wasn't really up to doing much. Well, that's not entirely true-I really enjoyed laying on the sofa and watching C4 all day, while I tried to remember when MTV actually played videos all day and called Keith home from the clinic to make me lunch. It was really hard times!
This time I didn't really have a solid excuse to be so incredibly lazy. Besides it seems that we have been experiencing a bit of an Indian summer and I had warm sunny days beckoning me outside to explore the
Maniototo. And while I was still on foot, like last time, I got a chance to explore a little more of the area.
So, what is the Maniototo? Only just about the most beautiful place in Central! The sign coming into the region describes it as a 'Timeless Landscape' and couldn't agree more. It is also a sparsely populated plain surrounded by gorgeous golden hills with remnants of it's gold mining history scattered about. I haven't been anywhere in New Zealand that offers such amazing sunrises and sunsets on an incredibly regular basis-well I've heard about more about the sunrises than I have actually seen them-maybe next time the sun will be rising a little later because I know I won't be rising any earlier! I think I could just watch the sky change.
Oh and did I mention that it's fall and all the leaves are changing-amazing!
On top of Keith's incredibly hard work days of getting an morning tea break where he is brought cheese and chutney on crackers (without ever asking, they just bring it to him-so spoiled!) he also gets Wednesday afternoon off. We drove out to the
Hamiltons, where gold was discovered in 1863, causing a huge population boom. I guess there wasn't much gold since by about 1900's the town all but disappeared. The Hamiltons Cemetery is pretty much all that's left of the town and it has been restored to preserve the history of the area. Only after going to the cemetery did we realize that all the road names were names of families who lived in the area. There is also a big old TB sanitarium out there (that I was hoping had been abandoned, but no, it's now a religious retreat-oh well!)
Since I'm not biking yet (since I bike so often usually), I decided to walk part of the Central Otago Rail Trail. I walked from
Waipiata towards
Kokonga. Since most people bike this trail, I was a bit of an odd site walking the trail. This inspired questions like 'did you lose your bike?' from passing cyclists. I was happy to be walking it on such a gorgeous day and you get a different (I think better) point of view of how beautiful the area is when you're not speeding past on a bike.
I didn't make it all the way to Kokonga, only about halfway (or 7 km) and walked back to enjoy a delicious BLT of lunch at the Waipiata Country Hotel. Here the waiter saved me from myself by informing that the BLT would be enough and that I did not need a side of chips (he was right!).
Hopefully when we go back in a few weeks there will be snow on the mountains!
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