Keep Your Eyes on the Road: Central Otago, New Zealand

Along the way, the Clutha river is dammed, forming huge inland lakes for irrigation.

Golden poplars march up steep volcanic hills, their Autumn confetti brightening this forbidding desert. The mighty Clutha river roars down below, a deep turquoise and tumultuous presence, as it moves at swift pace carrying its huge load towards the sea 338 kilometers away.  Fertile river communities huddle in valleys, surrounded by these dark majestic hills, with apples, pears, quinces and pumpkins for sale, as the orchard leaves turn scarlet. The local wines taste like their place. It is not hard to appreciate how the notion of ‘terra’ can flavour a wine. The white quartz and schist deposited in these ancient glacial valleys give that tingling mineral sensation, so readily discernible on the palate, to the Pinot Gris from Central Otago.

Central Otago drama
Rolling plains near Gibbston
Before the Snow
Wild poplars, Central Otago

Wandering through small colonial towns, the old gold mining villages of Clyde, Cromwell, Arrowtown and Wanaka, enables you to step back into the 1860s. The preserved and partly reconstructed Chinese huts in Arrowtown attract many Chinese visitors from Guangdong province as Chinese tourists begin to take more interest in the history of the Chinese diaspora during the gold rush era. Old Cromwell Town is a quaint precinct within the larger modern, sprawling town of Cromwell, with ‘saved’ buildings after the construction of a dam and Lake Dunstan in the 1990s.

Old Cromwell Town
Old Cromwell Town

These small places are well-developed tourist haunts but also make good bases for day touring around the district. We stayed in Cromwell, Arrowtown and Wanaka, all quite striking in different ways.

central otago in autumn
Lakes of Central Otago
Lake Dunstan, Cromwell
Long white cloud moves across Autumn hills
Keep your eyes on the road..

‘Keep your eyes on the road and your hand upon the wheel’. The views are so stunning in Central Otago, it’s like driving through a dream.

Turquoise Turbulence. the Mighty Clutha river, the largest by volume in New Zealand.
Turquoise Turbulence. The mighty Clutha river, the largest by volume in New Zealand.

32 thoughts on “Keep Your Eyes on the Road: Central Otago, New Zealand”

      1. Yes it took me 42 years just to visit Tasmania and that place is certainly worth visiting. Our cruise ship landed in Auckland in 1973, docked for a few hours but we went nowhere – just pottered around Auckland shops, then sailed back to Sydney. We had a 2 year old with us (Sophie) and you can imagine the tantrums as well. So I haven’t seen NZ in my book! 😦

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    1. Ardys, I am so pleased you enjoyed the prose. Those words wrote themselves en route. There were pages and pages but in the interests of brevity on the blog, a reduced version appears.
      As for the illness, no, not better, getting worse!

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    1. Thanks Julie, I was thinking of you often as I drove about your beautiful area. we visited your vineyard, took some snaps there, so lovely. Thanks for all the tips which came in handy.

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