NZ Day 7 - Oturehua to Kokonga

As I mentioned, our saviour from the rain the previous evening was the publican at the Oturehua Railway Hotel. Grahame was amazing - we dried off & got into some warm clothes & promptly retired to the bar - in our socks - next to the open fire - and curled up with some whiskey & local red wine to warm us up. Then, to top it off, his wife went out of her way to make me a special vegan lentil pie for dinner. It was just awesome. Here is the old railway cottage out the back of the pub where we spent the night.

Across the road is NZ's oldest operating general store - Gilchrist's. It's half shop/half museum & definitely worth a visit.

Soon after we hit the road we came across the first of two 45 degrees south latitude signs - exactly halfway between the equator & the south pole.

Then it was another quick side trip to the Golden Progress Mine, which contains lots of interesting buildings & ruins. The mine is actually on private farmland, but is open to the public to explore. This hut has been restored by the owners of the land & DOC.

There were lots of interesting photo opportunities. As I was travelling with 2 photographers, we spent a LONG time here :-)

The poppet head standing over a 61 metre shaft.

An abandoned horizontal mine shaft.

The boys explored inside, but it was a bit too muddy in there for me.

Looking across the mine site to the farm beyond.

The 2nd of the 45 degrees south points.

Pretty soon after this we made it to the top! Only 618m, but I'm still proud of the effort it took us to get there :-)

On a blissful downhill run we soon reached Wedderburn.

The Green Shed is famous around these parts for featuring in this Grahame Sydney painting.

After Wedderburn we made the ill-informed decision to make a side-strip to Naseby. It was described as an excellent example of a historic NZ town & we were feeling pretty fit. In hindsight, Naseby was something of a mistake. Once we left the trail, we were of course subjected to the normal hills & valleys of any country road. We spent the next hour or so struggling & panting up hills. By the time we reached the town we were so exhausted we couldn't even be bothered looking around the town. But I took this photo to prove we were there.

We stopped at the Ranfurly Lion Hotel to quench our thirst, get our fix of internet & pick up some food for dinner.

Wapiata Man - a cool sculpture that sits on the old station site.

Our destination for the night was Kokonga, along the way we passed more pretty farmland.

I love the way the clouds roll in over the mountains in NZ.

NZ Day 6 - Omakau to Oturehua

Day 2 of the ride was a slow uphill climb from Omakau to Oturehua. The trail passed through more cool tunnels.

And over more cool bridges.

Even though it didn't feel like we had climbed very high, the valleys began to get more impressive too.

Remains of the tunnel construction workers' huts. Most of the rock cuttings, tunnels & bridges along the trail were constructed or cut by hand. Impressive.

A fast flowing river.

The remains of the chimneys from the tunnel workers camp.

The landscape around the workers huts was possibly the most beautiful on the trail.

This is one of the Poolburn Gorge tunnels - about 150m long I think & completely pitch black in the middle.

There really is light at the end... :-)

Poolburn Gorge.

It's a long & lonely road.

Entrance to the 2nd Poolburn Gorge tunnel.

Soon after the tunnels the trail reaches the Poolburn Viaduct - an impressive 37m high bridge across the gorge.

One of the many 'red sheds' along the trails - old gangers huts. Some had information boards - which, incidentally, is another thing I loved about the trail. There was loads of historical information along the way, which meant that the scenery took on a more personal meaning.

The rain closing in towards the end of the day.

From here we gunned it to the pub we were staying at in Oturehua - unfortunately we didn't beat the rain and all got pretty drenched. But the hospitality of the publican more than made up for any discomfort.