Trains-More Fruit- and Hill Country Farms

Nice early but cool start today, the Kingston Flyer crew are hosting an event in aid of the Stroke Foundation and they were expecting upwards of 500 people on each day this weekend.   Both Locos (788 and 795) have been fired up and the remaining three passenger carriages brought out to form a double headed 7 carriage train.

Loco 788 ready for the days work

Robin and Jenny are having some battery problems so we headed for Frankton to get groceries and find an Auto Electrical Outlet.   That was a waste of time,  obviously the overpriced tradesmen in Queenstown don’t work on Saturday mornings - much to Robin’s disgust.

We didn’t hang around too long nobody was interested in the commercialised blot on the landscape that was Queenstown.  

We left and meandered along through the Kawarau Gorgewith it’s spectacular scenery, past AJ Hacketts bungy operation and on until arriving at “Roaring Meg” .   To european settlers roaring Meg was known as Kirtle Burn.   How did it become known as Roaring Meg ?   Some say it was named after the turbulent and voluble red haired Maggie Brennan the barmaid from the local hotel.  The are other opinions on it’s naming but not so interesting.   The outfall in the right hand photo is from a hydro power scheme which feeds into the gorge.

Tremendous scenery throughout this area the trees starting to show their autumn colours which is something this area is famous for.

                Down the Gorge                           Autumn Colours           

After a spot of lunch at Roaring Meg we moved on into Cromwell, the fruitbowl capital with it’s iconic large sign outside the town.

                                      Le Petit Chateau by the Sign

Our camp for the night is at Locharburn  on a farm set in the hills above Lake Dunstan.

Parked in the Paddock

Crunchie Bars on the Kingston Flyer

Another  adventure today as we head off to ride the re-opened Kingston Flyer which operates from Kingston to Fairlight.   Our stop for the night is on the hardstand next to the Kingston station on the banks of Lake Wakatipu.  

With the glorious weather again we are looking forward to our train ride.   On our way in this morning we caught up with the train just leaving Fairlight for it’s return to Kingston.

What a marvellous sight to see this iconic train operating again after so long out of action.   The railway operates 2 AB Class Pacific 4-6-2 locomotives,  Number 788 built in Addington Workshops in 1925 and Number 795 built in Dunedins Hillside workshop in 1927.    They were withdrawn from NZ Rail service in  They operate along a 14km stretch of track and pull four of seven carriages aged between 105 and 76 years old.   The Black leather interiored 1st Class carriage with it’s caged observation area is the last remaining example in the world.

These trains featured in the well known advertisement for Crunchie Bars back in the 80’s or 90’s (can’t remember when) so we had to buy a Crunchie on the journey!

Crunchie Time and No Robbers in Sight!

Another great trip worthy of a visit even for those who are not train buffs.

Down to “Middle Earth” - According to the Bus Driver

Our next part to the adventure was to travel 2 km underground to visit the Generating Chamber of the Manapouri Power Station.   This was one of the all time great engineering feats in NZ history.    Tunnels were blasted out of the super hard quartz ridden rock to funnel water from Lake Manapouri down vertical tunnels to spin the power turbines at the bottom in the huge underground power chamber which stands 200m below the surface of Lake Manapouri.
The tailrace tunnels are 10km long and 10m wide, the first tunnel being constructed by the drill and blast method and been lined to leave a smooth surface.   The second was achieved with a Tunnel Boring Machine.   These take the water from the turbines out into Doubtful Sound

The Tunnel Entrance

The tunnel is 9m wide, and built to take the largest pieces of machinery down to the bottom.   Trucks delivering parts had to back down the tunnel and a delivery could take up to 7 hours.   There’s room enough for two vehicles but with a bus this size it takes a skilled driver to manoeuvre down the winding tunnel.    Vehicles in the tunnel drive on the right hand side so the drivers can better judge the distances to the rock walls.   At the bottom the driver has to turn the bus with a multi faceted turn across the narrow width to face outwards for the journey back.   A feat that generated spontaneous applause from the impressed passengers on board.

The whole project took 1800 workers eight years to complete in the harsh conditions.   16 miners died in the construction of this power station and their names are commemorated on a plaque at the entrance to the generating hall.   Health and safety was not a priority in those days.

A short walk into the generating hall where we received an informative talk from the guide.

     The Generating Hall                                The Tunnel In
Most of the power generated here is destined for the Tiwai Point Aluminium smelter at Bluff.
Back on the bus and we slowly wound our way back up into the sunlight for our ferry trip back to Pearl Harbour in Lake Manapouri.

Doubtful Sounds–A Special Journey

A cold morning for our well anticipated all day trip to Doubtful Sound and the Manapouri Power Station.   The weather was one out of the box, starting with low cloud and mist with the promise of a sunny day to follow.   We headed down to Pearl Harbour at Manapouri where we were to board their brand new boat the MV Titiroa.We settled in for the 1 hour  journey across Lake Manapouri to West Arm with low mist giving a spooky atmosphere to the Lake on the way.

On our arrival at West Arm we boarded the waiting buses for the 40 minute journey across the 670m high Wilmot Pass on a private road funded and maintained by users of the road.  Spectacular views as we crested the summit and descended into the now clear skied Doubtful Sound.

                                             View  From The Summit 

Our next boat the MV Patea Explorer awaited our arrival, another well appointed and reasonably new vessel similar to the first one.   We set sail for the 3 hour cruise on Doubtful Sound in perfect weather .   The boat has a reasonably priced snack bar on board and complimentary tea and coffee on the trip

More Great Scenery

We were advised to keep an eye out for wildlife as we cruised along listening to informative commentary from the on board Nature Guide.  

Our first sighting was a small blue penguin followed shortly after by a yellow crested penguin,   it seemed like our luck on this trip was holding!    Bottlenose dolphins were next, not something that is seen on every trip.   We carried on through the sound past secretary Island (an impressive piece of land that rose  40cm in the last earthquake in this area) until we reached open sea watching the antics of the Southern Albatross following the boat and due to the calm conditions were able to proceed all the way to the Seal colony on Nee Island.

Heading back towards Deep Cove with a couple of side trips including Crooked Arm we were again delighted by a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins.

Cavorting Dolphins

We arrived back into Deep Cove for the Bus Journey across Wilmott Pass again to West Arm.   This is the bus that will take us 2 km underground to the Manapouri Power Station.

Manapouri Here We Come

Boy what a night at Monkey Island, a really strong South West wind whipping straight off the sea at the caravan.   It was so bad it kept blowing out the gas on the fridge so we had to pull the legs up and turn the caravan so the fridge vents were on the side away from the wind.   Not only that but the wind shook the satellite dish so much we kept losing the picture – the solution to put the dish inside a wind shelter we found on the side of the road at Clyde.

That Did the Trick !

We started the day (now quite calm) with a walk out to Monkey  Island as it was low tide when we got up, a small climb to the top to say we had been there!

        View from The Top                                   Monkey Island

 

Just a short distance down the road was the Clifden Suspension Bridge.   Spanning 111.5 metres above the Waiau River it remains as a memorial to those involved in it’s construction from 1896-1899.   It claimed fame as having the longest span of any suspension bridge in New Zealand.

 

One of the local residents was there to greet us, a very friendly and obviously well fed KuniKuni pig.

Oink !

Just 100k to Manapouri where we wanted to book the Doubtful Sound cruise for tomorrow, a little expensive but this was one of our “must do” trips.   A one hour boat ride across Lake Manapouri, a 45 min bus ride across Wilmotts pass to Doubtful Sound, a three hour cruise in the sounds and then back to Manapouri via the Power Station where we descend down into the bowels of the earth.

In the afternoon after booking into a very nice motor caravan park at Manapouri, we drove to Te Anau for a look around.

Just at the beginning of the town is a statue to Quintin Mackinnon - surveyor, explorer, guide.   Mackinnon and Ernest Mitchell were the first europeans to travel overland from Te Anau to Milford in 1888.   This became the world famous Milford Track.

Quintin Mackinnon 1851 - 1892

Paua Shells and Monkeys

Moving on time today towards Manapouri.   We left Winton with a short stop to buy a lunchtime pie for later and headed off down to the coast for our lunch stop at Riverton.   It boasts a couple of Paua Jewellery places and with the sun shining was a pleasant place to visit.

After a quick walk through the shopping area, one of the local retailers suggested a drive around to the “Riverton Rocks” area where we could have lunch looking out over the sea towards Stewart Island.

The “Riverton Rocks” was a name given to the property of an early pioneering family and the name has since been adopted for the area.   Following the foreshore round to Taramea Bay you enter the Riverton Rocks area and can stop to admire the beaches and reserve, where we halted for lunch.   Just the two of us today as Dot has had to return to Wellington for family reasons for a few days.   Derek will catch us up in Manapouri before picking up Dot again in Queenstown

 

Looking out Towards Invercargill        Stopped for Lunch

On then to a freedom camping area at Orepuki called Monkeys Island, so named it is presumed because a Monkey Winch was used to ferry boats ashore.   The island is accessible at low tide but it was blowing quite vigorously when we got there.

Apart from a quick look I haven’t ventured too far

            Our Campsite                                           Monkey Island

Gore & Winton

Not a lot for me to write about for the last day or so, we had a day of on & off showers in Gore and very cold winds so for us it was an enforced rest day.  The local saddle? club had a fun day  organised so we got to see them yoking various horses into a collection of gigs, drays and carriages right next to where we were staying.   In their storage sheds they had a good collection of all sorts of horse drawn vehicles.

 

A Small Part of the Collection 

We had seen all we wanted to see in Gore so spent the day in the caravan reading, watching TV and doing not much!   We all went across to the Gore Town & Country Club for dinner and had a nice roast pork meal for $12 a head.

Today we drove 50k or so down the road to Winton where we are staying at the local Golf Club.   I’m not sure why we came to Winton, there certainly doesn’t look like much in the area.   Lots of shops closed down or closing in the main street.   It’s one claim to fame seems to be a relationship with the infamous Minnie Deans the murderer.

Parked up at the Golf Course