15 to 22 March

Over the last week or so we’ve been exploring Central Otago and the Mackenzie Basin and the area around Mt Cook.

Lakes Hawea and Wanaka sparkled in the sunshine. We saw cows being herded along the road next to Lake Hawea from one field to another. Lots and Lots of cows walking very slowly.  We stopped to take photos and let them past. The farmer said it normally takes him (and his six dogs) around 2 hours or so to move them. The dogs lay in the creek have a drink and cool down.

The weather varies tremendously here. Going from one valley to another or over some mountains and it can completely change. We drove to Mt Cook and you couldn’t see it due to cloud and rain and then drove to Lake Tekapo and it was lovely and sunny.

Did a day time tour of the observatory on top of Mt John and was given a behind the scenes look at lots of things. Alpha Centauri is our nearest neighbour at 4.1 light years away and visible through the telescope. Its companion (which looks quite close) is actually 480m km away. 

The MOA telescope looks for objects that emit no light and basically works by checking gravity. Partly sponsored by the Japanese it’s  pretty big and has found 30 new objects since it opened in 2004. Pretty impressive when you consider that only 350 planets/stars have been discovered since the 18th/19th century. The camera attached to it takes an 84mp image and has to be cooled by helium. The telescope is so well balanced that although it weighs 10 tons it can be moved by a fingertip.

Drove along the hydro canal to Lake Pukaki (which runs up to Mt Cook). There’s a salmon farm in it and some escape only to be caught by fishermen who sit a bit further on. We saw some jumping out of the water and virtually on to their lines. A very cold day but sunny. At around 730m here. Then drove along gravel road towards Mt Cook – fantastic views of the mountains with blue skies.

We then did a night time star gazing tour. They bus you up the mountain as you aren’t allowed to drive and for the last bit they turn the headlights off and use sidelights only. They have a resident astro photographer, Fraser Gunn, who really knows his stuff. We bought a DVD of his photos. He helped Chris get some photos using his new camera and they came out really well – the magellanic clouds and a couple of nebulae. Very cold here and they lend you coats to wear. Ours were preworn by some Antarctic explorers and were much appreciated. Free hot chocolate during the tour went down well. We saw Saturn quite clearly including its rings. Chris also saw Mars. We stayed there until midnight and then they gave us a lift back to the camp. There’s very little light pollution here so the stars come down to the horizon and the Milky Way is clearly visible.

We never quite know where we are going and sometimes just decide to take a road to see where it will go. We tried to get to Lake Benmore and Benmore itself. We managed to get to the lake and then the road became a 4wd one so we decided caution would be better in our van.

Turning back we choose to go over the Hakataramea Pass. The sign said that it may be steep with fords but we’ve done that sort of thing before without problems. It was well worth it as it was a beautiful drive. The pass is at 965m and definitely felt cold – its been jeans and fleeces weather for the last couple of days. Lovely views and a small river running alongside the road. The fords were pretty shallow and some completely dry. Saw plenty of sheep and cattle and the valley opened up on the other side to become massive and full of farms.

The Lindis Pass is beautiful – lots of tussock grass and some wildflowers – everything looks a golden colour.
Back to Bendigo and a lazy weekend. Managed a walk to the Clutha river with Dexter the pointer who is very keen on rabbits and who also things our van is his property and likes jumping in the back of it whenever possible. Archie, the Springer spaniel puppy, isn’t allowed a lot of exercise until his broken toe heals.
Had an interesting excursion to Bannockburn near Cromwell and the old gold sluicings. Found plenty of iron pyrites (fools gold) and quartz but none of the real stuff. It looks a bit like Monument Valley in the US with rock stacks left standing only this is all manmade. They used water cannons to blast the rocks and then sluiced the sludge and found gold.
Due to the location of Bendigo (between lots of mountain ranges) it tends not to get much rain. It’s hot and dry in the summer and cold and dry in the winter. However last night there was a thunderstorm and it bucketed down several times. Not sure how much difference that will make to the grass though. If you want to get things to grow out here you have to irrigate them regularly. Mark and Christina have planted several trees as an orchard and they each have anti-rabbit covers and irrigation. Most of them are growing pretty well. It’s very windy here and they’ve planted some other trees to act as a windbreak. Beautiful views from every side of the house.