Saving the Pennies with more Free Camping!

Saturday 2 May

Peaked out the window when I woke around 7.15am and was rewarded with a stunning blast of colour from behind the willows. I hopped up, grabbed several layers and my Uggs and ventured out into the frosty morning - and wow, did Ranginui put on a show for me?

The skies around the Lindis Pass Hotel oscillated through a rainbow of colours - golds, pinks, purples, red and firey oranges before settling into a slightly cloudy insipid grey blue - as if all the energy had been spent on the sunrise display.

We packed up Banjo and took a walk down the track and went to explore Wattie’s Hut. Stopped by the riverside briefly to avoid being prosecuted for trespassing; this stretch is the subject of a gold claim - we did not attempt any panning!

Constructed in the 1950s by Wattie Thompson, just as the hotel closed down, and while he was pursuing his gold claim, it still stands as a monument to a more recent gold mining past. It was very basic inside, but amazing it was still as complete as it is - with a bed, old stove and a few holes in the flooring. The windows had no glass, just old sack cloth - the front window looked like an Old Master’s painting in the morning light (Vermeer perhaps?) I'm guessing Wattie wasn't a tall fella - Louis had to duck to get through the doorframe, and at 5'6" I only just fit under the lintel! Bizarrely, Wattie died in 1979 in the infamous Mt Erebus plane crash.

On the path back we got a good view down onto the old hotel ruins and another building which I think may be the stables. And of course we couldn't leave without the official selfie!

We bounced and wobbled our way back along Old Faithful Road (no traffic encounters, just a few curious cows) and hung a left onto SH8 and headed up through the Lindis Pass, nodding to the old Hotel as we passed just metres away from it on the new road, over the other side of the river.

Soon we were through Omarama (where about vans were queued up at the dump station) and heading to Twizel.

Called in at High Country Salmon and bought our traditional cheap-skate pack of salmon offcuts (delicious but small morsels), filled up with water at Twizel dump station (just us, no waiting!) then trekked up to the top of Lake Ruataniwha to find ourselves a spot in the freedom camp there. Stunning location up on the cliff above the north western end of the lake with million dollar views - made even more magical at this time of year by the blast of autumn colour on the trees around the lakeside.

A quick late lunch and then we hopped on the bikes to go exploring along the Pukaki Canal and back through the outskirts of the town, where all the smart new houses have been built. First stop to catch our breath was at the top of the Ohau A Hydropower station where two juvenile karoro gulls were hanging out watching the lone fisherman (4 days and just 2 small fish caught - I wouldn't have the patience for that!)

Looking up the Pukaki Canal from here at the Power Station, the water was still as could be and super-reflective - it hardly looked real. We cycled down the righthand side of the canal as far as Glen Lyon Road where we turned off by Loch Cameron (looking like a picture postcard in the early evening light) and cycled back along the Northwest Arch across the top of Twizel to Max Smith Drive where we looped back to Banjo - a nice 18km cycle. Meatballs for dinner in Banjo then a fairly early night - with added hot water bottle as we were rapidly heading to zero on the outside thermometer.