Around the Lakes

Around the Lakes

Date: Thursday 28 February 2013
Route: Omarama to Tokarahi
Distance: 106km
Weather: high cloud in morning, very hot in afternoon
Accommodation: Tokarahi Homestead Bed & Breakfast

A highlight of today was a detour we took to see the Benmore dam and then a quiet ride on the road circling Lake Aviemore. The main motorway goes on the other side of the lake – so we were only passed by about two cars the whole way around. The lakes are bright blue, and the fields and mountains are brown. The Benmore dam has the second largest hydro power station in NZ. We were surprised to find that the dam wall is made of earth – 110 metres high! There were many camping grounds around the lakeshore. The wind drove waves onto the shore, making it sound like the sea. We travelled over a smaller dam wall (Lake Aviemore) to get back onto the main road. This wall evidently has a ladder for Salmon to climb over (didn’t see it though). The final dam wall we passed was Lake Waitaki, this was one of the first dams built in NZ – between 1928-1934.

As we travelled down the Waitaki River, the country side became greener as a result of irrigation. It was totally brown and dry in Omarama, but we gradually passed some vineyards, then orchards and finally dairy farms. We stopped to buy some food at Kurow and some fruit at an orchard.
We also couldn’t resist a coffee at the Flying Pig cafe in Duntroon – the last town before our turnoff.

Our bed and breakfast is 13km off the motorway in the direction of Dansey’s Pass (tomorrow’s destination). This is the most expensive place we have stayed so far. The homestead was built in 1876 and has been restored with antique wall paper. Our room, at the front of the house, has a fireplace and a 5 metre high ceiling with decorative mouldings. We also have a ball and claw bath that I look forward to using later. It was extremely hot when we arrived at around 2.30pm, and the first thing I noticed was how cool it is inside. The house is made of stone and is surrounded by a porch.

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