We arrived in the afternoon on Feb. 15th after a very pleasant 2 1/2 drive from Mount Cook. We are now in Central Otago on the south island and it is beautiful country - not mountainous, but quite hilly with lots of farms. The area has a rich history of gold mining (check out The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, winner of the Man-Booker Prize in 2013). Our hosts, Graeme and Deirdre, have been great and already have helped us out so much. On arrival, Graeme, took us on a tour of the town (township, in New Zealand) and stopped by yesterday evening to give us some "insider" tips on what to explore on the cheap in the vicinity.
This afternoon we headed up the road to Ophir, a tiny village that has restored it's historic main street (angle parking, just like in Saskatchewan!) and took a pic in front of the old lockup - two cells with plenty of room in each for troublemakers; however, neither one of our troublemakers was game to step inside!
On we continued to St. Bathans, the site at one time of the deepest open-pit gold mine in the Southern Hemisphere, which is now filled with what is known as The Blue Lake. Pictured in the photo is Jack, "the pub dog," as a cute little girl informed us. He spends his days wandering between the pub/hotel at the top of the hill and the lake at the bottom, beguiling hapless tourists and generally enjoying life. We'll go back tomorrow with our "swim togs," as they say down here. Definitely looking forward to exploring the area with the help of our hosts' helpful hints.
Deirdre treated the girls to a wonderful surprise this morning as well. The last photo provides a hint. I was proud that they readily participated in this stage of the activity. Check out the girls'pages for pics and details....
This afternoon we headed up the road to Ophir, a tiny village that has restored it's historic main street (angle parking, just like in Saskatchewan!) and took a pic in front of the old lockup - two cells with plenty of room in each for troublemakers; however, neither one of our troublemakers was game to step inside!
On we continued to St. Bathans, the site at one time of the deepest open-pit gold mine in the Southern Hemisphere, which is now filled with what is known as The Blue Lake. Pictured in the photo is Jack, "the pub dog," as a cute little girl informed us. He spends his days wandering between the pub/hotel at the top of the hill and the lake at the bottom, beguiling hapless tourists and generally enjoying life. We'll go back tomorrow with our "swim togs," as they say down here. Definitely looking forward to exploring the area with the help of our hosts' helpful hints.
Deirdre treated the girls to a wonderful surprise this morning as well. The last photo provides a hint. I was proud that they readily participated in this stage of the activity. Check out the girls'pages for pics and details....