Day 53

On our way to Omarama we stopped at a series of points linked to the vanishing world centre at Duntroon. Esther was already there as she slept at the campsite near Duntroon. We saw the whale fossil area, the Maerewhenua Rock art site, the elephant rocks (badly indicated on the map so we got lost searching for it…), the earthquake rock area (not actually caused by an earthquake – was only a rock slide) and another site with drawing on the rock. Not every site were worth to check but we enjoyed a few of them. After lunch near a cliff with Maori drawing (sadly most of them were removed) we stopped at vanishing world museum where a nice elderly lady taught us about a submerged underground cave system beneath the town (we watched a video of guys going through it) and also some special rocks that made noises when you shook them. Esther was ahead as we went to the I-site at Kurow and did a hill walk near the town. It was nice but we got terribly hot without any breeze!

We bought a Popsicle to cool down and kept driving. We had a look at Aviemore dam where a massive turbine was left. The dam was huge and too full! The rain was heading towards us as we had a look at an old hotel ruins. At Otomatata, we did the wetland track (which wasn’t that great). Before arriving at Omarama we decided to see the Lake Benmore and found a nice big walk around it. It was almost dinner time but we managed to finish the walk through pine forest without getting to wet as well. Jack had fun inside a big pipe before we went to Omarama where Esther invited us to have fish and chips in a bar. The meal price was over the top but we had a good time although Esther told us that she would go to Wanaka and see her family and see us later in Christchurch. We then went to the free campsite near the river towards Mount Cook. I exercised a bit hidden in the trees and we went to bed early. During the night though a bright full moon lighted all the area and very strong winds blew the car for a while. An unfortunate camper had his tent blown over during his sleep…

Entree Written By Marianne