A Busy day Relaxing in Central Otago

Wednesday 12 February

Time to enjoy the wide open spaces of Central Otago and explore the remains of the 19th century gold mining boom - historic buildings everywhere!

After a gentle morning spent sorting out the boot of the Pajero and repacking it in an orderly fashion (long may it last) we set off to visit Clyde (very historical), visit the dam (a lot newer) and have lunch at Merchant on Jonny’s recommendation. Good call - great place, great food!

We then headed out to Lake Dunstan on the upper side of the dam for Louis to have a swim while I had a walk and a gentle dip - such a beautiful spot and the water was more than tolerable at around 20*C. The track alongside the lake is both a cycle path and a walking track so I had to scoot out of the cyclists way a few times, but was still able to follow Louis' progress up the lake for about a kilometre before I turned back and had a wee plunge, after meeting the two naughtiest Goldies ever!

Jonny finished work at The Terrace School at 3.30 so we met him in town and he led us out to Graveyard Gulley for a 4km walk along the river, up into the hills and back again - amazing views! Apparently someone described this track as New Zealand's answer to the Grand Canyon which was roundly reviled, but I did get a sense of what they meant - the slopes, rocks, tracks and foliage did remind me of our walk down into the Grand Canyon back in 2017, but admittedly on a far smaller scale here!

Chilled out back at their place and helped Debs out with her jigsaw as the sun went down… another fab day!