Butcher's Gully & a fine Winery

Thursday 5 June

After a cold night, a beautiful sunny day and all the views had returned - reminding us just how gorgeous it is in Central Otago.

I took the opportunity to catch up with laundry as it was a great drying day!

Jonny suggested a visit to Butcher’s Gully so mid morning headed we off via Alex (and Sallies op shop) to this peaceful, historic spot along the Roxburgh road and in the shadow of Old Man Range (that we visited in March).

The lake was quite low, but still lovely in the winter sun - it is home to 2023’s NZ Bird of the Year, the rare crested grebe or Pūteketeke, though we only spotted a few cormorants.

The schist outcrops around this area are quite impressive - creating fascinating natural sculptures and also natural caves and shelters that were utilised by early settlers and miners. The history of this area goes back to 1862 when gold was discovered in them thar hills... by 1865 the eponymous Butcher's Shop had opened to service the many gold prospectors who had flocked to the area, including in Li Bo who came from China to join the gold rush, but then transitioned into a market gardener, being the first to recognise the fertile properties of the land of Central Otago - now home to fruit orchards and vineyards galore. His thriving orchard and market garden supplied the local miners and the townsfolk of Alexandra, and he later sold his water rights to establish a water supply for the town. Butcher's Gully was submerged into a lake by the construction of Butcher's Dam in the 1930s, creating a water reservoir for Alexandra.

Back in Alex we bought metres and metres of pipe lagging to winterproof Banjo’s water pipes and then headed back so that Louis & Jez could spend the afternoon under Banjo attaching them. All our morning washing was dry as a bone, so I took that in then spent an age securing the next two washloads against the wind so that they could whizz themselves dry on the Hills Hoist, putting in a washload of dirty mats from Banjo and handwashing Louis' lambswool sweater... very industrious!

When Abby had finished work for the day we popped over to historic Clyde for a wander, then dropped in at the Monte Christo Winery for a tasting session with the very funny & personable Rebecca Cowley who will be the Websters’ nearly-neighbour when they move into their new place on MacArthur Road in a fortnight! We were all very taken by the fold out table & benches in a gorgeous hardwood armoire at the posh furniture store in Clyde but we'd have to settle in a real house before considering such a purchase! Jonny is about to settle in a new real house so he was making genuine enquiries about other items in the store - it was packed with lovely household stuff!

The wine tasting was brilliant - Rebecca was such a character and thought Jonny was flirting with her as he immediately asked for her phone number when she said where she lived... by the end they were swapping Facebook friend requests - although somehow they seemed to already be linked by mutual friends. The wine was apparently absolutely delicious and everyone bought some to take home. I was more taken by the book about the winery entitled "An Account of Monte Christo" and the ridiculous tall tales about the winery's new owner who seemed like a real character.

Back to the red house for Jonny’s chicken curry for dinner then we endured Mission Impossible II (trying to rewatch them all in sequence) while I did the ironing… a weird treat after 5 and a half months on the road!!!)