Clyde, New Zealand - 1 - 4 October 2020

 Leaving Wanaka we had hopes of returning to stay again at Mantells. It is a lovely spot, the facilities are luxurious and the hospitality generous.

On the way to Clyde we stopped off at the Warbirds & Wheels Museum. Warbirds Over Wanaka is a biennial air show in Wanaka, held on Easter weekends of even numbered years. I thought that there would be more planes in the museum, however there were lots of really great cars and I enjoyed every minute of it.  My pick was the little old tin lizzy. But there were some really great cars and it is worth a stop and the coffee shop is good as well. 

At Clyde we were joined by friends and we all stayed at Hartley Homestead. This is the home of Lance’s old schoolmate Euan. If you are down that way and looking for accomodation this is a good place to stop. 

Clyde is an old gold mining town and is extremely quaint and is also the start of the famous Otago Rail Trail  a scenic bike tour route that takes people through the historic Central Otago. Lance and I have this on our ‘to do’ list.

Our first evening was spent outside by the fire feasting on meat that Euan cooked ‘Brazilian style’ over hot coals. Many stories and beverages passed by our lips and it was hard to believe we were sitting outside when only an hour drive away we had celebrated snow that morning.

In the morning after a wee stroll around the quaint historical village of Clyde we set off for lunch at Mt Difficulty. A vineyard restaurant perched on the side of a hill that offers wonderful views, food and wine. 

We had all been looking forward to this lunch and were not disappointed. The food was great and the setting spectacular. 

On the drive home Euan suggested a detour  and Wayne our driver took the turn up the Nevis Road; it wasn’t until I googled it on our return that I found that it was advised ‘Not suitable for 2 wheel drive vehicles’. Our little hire van with seven rather full bodies made it up the steep gravel road that hugged the hillside with no problem at all. The only one with a problem was Lance who was busting for a wee by the time we had got half way up the mountain.  His discomfort was exacerbated by the rough corrugated track that rattled and shook us all the way up. I do have to admit that the shear drop did take my breath away on several occasions.  At the peak we all got out and admired the view whilst being whipped by the icy wind,  Lance recalibrated and we were wound our way back down the mountainside.

Fortunately, Unfortunately 

The next day we planned to take a short trip to Naseby to go ‘curling’. Fortunately when we got there we were pleased to find that they could fit us in and we quickly paid and went upstairs for a briefing. Unfortunately they thought we were part of a large group who had booked and we had to depart without a game. 

Naseby is a tiny village that was originally a gold mining village in the 1860s. Fortunately we found an old pub for lunch and a beer, unfortunately I ordered fish and chips without thinking through the coordinates. Central Otago obviously means that it is located in the centre of the South Island, miles away from the sea. Consequently my fish was pretty ordinary and had been frozen. However Lance had amazing whitebait fritters. 

On our way to Naseby we detoured so that we could cross the Ophir Bridge. This suspension bridge was built in 1880 and in New Zealand that is pretty bloody old. 

After lunch we made our way home and the boys were determined to finish a series of pool games that had an undetermined result. Our first choice was the St Bathans pub which is located on the side of Dunstan Creek which grew into a small man made lake from gold sluicing in the 1800s. Off the beaten track and down a gravel road we travelled and on approaching the village noted that the single lane road was lined with parked cars. Down off the road we saw what we thought must have been a wedding and quite large one at that because the pub was closed for a private function. Taking a couple of quick pics of the lake we did a u-turn and started back towards the main road. Unfortunately it was not a wedding but a funeral and the hearse was parked in the middle of the road and the mourners were gathered as you do at these occasions. Of course in a situation like this the only thing to do is to sit and wait. Finally the hearse had been shut and had moved away and we thought that the people would move off the road and into the pub for a drink. Have you ever encountered a flock of sheep when driving and do you know how they seem to submerge you in their flock? Well that is exactly how it was, people surrounded us and appeared to be completely unaware of our presence. Like it is usual to have a large white rental van in the epi centre of the funeral gathering. We waited another 15ish minutes before we slowly (and respectfully) drove through the crowd of mourners. 

And that is how we found ourselves at Becks White Horse Hotel (and Glory Box Antiques) in Omakau Central Otago. 

A sure sign that we had arrived somewhere memorable was the little old lady sitting at a bar leaner with a cup of tea in a cup and saucer. I felt like something a little stronger and fortunately they had a pinot noir (from a bottle not a box). Unfortunately I actually could not get it past my lips as it was like vinegar. Making a quick visit to the toilet I was overwhelmed by a nasty smell, it may have been the person before me, but had a suspiciously permanent tang to it. And the door had no lock! Well it had a lock, but no key. 

Each side of the public lounge were rooms full of antiques and curios. They were all labelled, dusted, organised and well priced and were obviously somebody’s pride and joy. Becks Hotel is worth a stop, drink beer (or tea) and not wine. They have accomodation as well, but not on our bucket list I’m afraid. 

On our final day of our short South Island adventure I went for a quick walk down by the Clutha river which is actually Euan’s back yard. It is very beautiful and the banks are coated in flowering thyme. 

Before we dropped our van back in Queenstown we stopped for a bite in Frankton at a place called The Meat Preachers and it was exceptional. 

I also managed a little shopping and purchased a large pepper grinder which was inspected as we scanned through at the airport. “How does it open?” “It could have blades in it”. Really, I’m not kidding! Anyway they let us on and fortunately we got home without slicing anyone’s fingers off and our holiday was complete. 

Omarama Clay Cliffs 30 September 2020

 We woke up to a beautiful day and after breakfast and a cuppa we set off for Omarama Clay Cliffs. Lance had found this place when looking for things to do in and around Wanaka and we had never heard of them before. So off we set on the 1 hour 40 minute drive to Omarama. 

The drive was new territory for me and took us through the Lindis Pas. The pass takes you through grassy tussocks and through the mountains. At times were saw snow drifts on the side of the road and fortunately no ‘flurries’. I kept looking in the direction of Aoraki   (Mt Cook) which is New Zealand’s highest mountain, but I couldn’t see it, probably because it was another 90 kilometres away.

Surprisingly Omarama was quite a little touristy village and I am not sure who would stay at the hotels and why? As apart form the Clay Cliffs we could see no other attractions. Perhaps they stop on route to somewhere else?

The Clay Cliffs are down a private road and we had to pay $5 into an honesty box to get in. The well maintained gravel road took us through the valley which originally was carved out by a glacier. The view of the mountains was spectacular behind the river and the clusters of green trees. We were surprised by the amount of tourists visiting; all Kiwi residents or people stuck here of course. Suddenly the cliffs were in view and were a like something out of a movie. Columns of clay were clustered together like they had dribbled from the sky and solidified. We parked and walked a short distance to the foot of the cliffs where the path snaked up into and through a crevice created by the towers. We could have been anywhere in the world other than New Zealand as these were so different to the landscape around us. They are definitely worth a visit.

As we got to the village of Omarama I suggested that a toilet stop might be a good idea and suggested the Wrinkly Ram Cafe. Whilst I browsed through the touristy merino wool shop Lance had checked out the cafe and whispered to me”We need to eat here”. The toilet by the way was nothing to write home about, hence I won’t say much more apart from that they are clean and you don’t have to buy anything to use them.

The cafe was great and had all home made food. I selected a chicken pie and Lance had a steak pie. Both the pies were spectacular!  And we managed to slip a cheese roll onto the plate as well. Everything was delicious and I felt that it would be rude not to have a cake as well so managed to stuff a custard square down my throat as well (Vanilla slice for you Australians). While the cafe was in a modern building it was furnished in a variety of old original wooden tables and chairs. The whole place was festooned with fresh spring flowers, daffodils, tulips and snowbells.  And by the counter was a large pile of real pumpkins, it really was a lovely place and worth a stop if you are travelling on the Lindis pass.

Back at our apartment we lazed around and had a cheese board for dinner as we were still pretty full from lunch. Off to Clyde tomorrow!

Wanaka 29 September 2020

Something that I forgot to say from yesterday:

When we came home from the restaurant we found that the headlights on our hire care were a bit like Mr Magoo. Just feel your way around. We found our way to our road but it was so dark without street lights that we went right past our house, we really had no idea where it was and eventually turned around and crawled down the road until we could recognise something through the dark.

We started the day with a visit to Puzzling world. If you visit Wanaka you must go there. We had last visited in 1998 and I thought that maybe it could be a bit rundown, but on the contrary, it was even better.  Lance and I spent less than ten minutes in the maze that takes between 30 to 60 minutes. This was not because we were great maze runners, more like we were great escapers and cheated. Lance is not a particularly patient person so needed it to finish quickly.

Inside we entered the illusion room, we had been warned that we could feel unwell and I thought “Oh I’ll be fine”, but I tell you it was like your worst ever drunken state. I immediately felt ill and walking was embarrassingly silly. But it is worth the effort and is short if you want it to be. We laughed our way through it (just like being drunk) and moved on to the next illusion room that had hundreds of faces all following you around the room. I can’t really explain the full effect so you will just have to go there one day. There were many more intriguing displays.

Like most touristy places Puzzling World also hands a cafe and a gift shop, and I am a bit of a puzzle nerd so spent a bit of time and money in the gift shop Whilst Lance grabbed a coffee.

Our next stop was just up the road. Lavender Farm has an array of animals to be fed including donkeys, alpacas and pigs.  And rows and rows of lovely lavender gardens. As you can imagine the gift shop smells gorgeous and every little detail is in keeping with the lavender them right down to the lavender coloured umbrellas available for loan. Lance stayed in the car and when I came out i suggested another cuppa at this cafe which looked so much more inviting. In we trotted and as they don’t serve coffee I had a plum and something a rather tea and a lavender cake. Lance had good old English breakfast tea and a piece of honey fudge. All was scrumptious!

Lance had booked a massage in town and when we got there we noticed it was next to a place called La La Land. Hmmm thought I, this doesn’t sound like a ‘well-being’ massage place. But all ended well (not happy) and La la lounge is a bar and the massage place was above board. Whilst Lance was being pummelled I wandered around the shops and made a couple of purchases. The day was a chilly 6 degrees but with not a breath of wind it was quite pleasant in the sunshine. Wanaka was pretty busy with mainly families down here for the school holidays. The shops are varied in kind and in price and I did catch my breath at some items. 

We came home and had some refreshments because our dinner booking was for 8pm and we didn’t’t want to fade away from hunger (highly unlikely). After we finished hoovering down the little cheese board, wine and beer the restaurant messaged to say that they had changed our booking to 7pm which was our original request. 

The restaurant is two houses up from us and is called Maude (See my review) and is described as ‘Bistro Gentil”. It is part of Maude Wines. We checked the temperature and saw that at 10pm it would be only 1 degree, but we didn’t want to dress too warmly and be cooking in the restaurant. So off we went with only two layers each. When we got there we were ushered into the outside area that is protected by plastic screens. I had a moment of panic and considered dashing back home to add more layers, but my panic was unfounded and we even had to ask them to turn the heater down, it was very toasty.

The meal was extraordinarily good as was the service. We looked out over the mountain range looming over Lake Wanaka as the sun set. 

It was easier to find our way home this time; by foot and with iPhone torches on. And we collapsed on the couch to watch ‘The Sting’ on the big screen.