February 20, 2021

A hot, hot day in Wanaka today (90 ^oF, 32^oC).  We had planned to get desperately needed haircuts today, but we changed our mind and set out for Cromwell mid-morning, in all our shagginess.

Cromwell is about an hour’s drive south of Wanaka, at the 45^th parallel – just a tad further South (of the Equator) than our house in Michigan is North.  It’s in the Central Otago region.  (Wanaka is in the Queenstown-Lakes District.)  Otago is renowned for stone fruit (apricots, peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries) and now for excellent wines, especially Pinot Noir.  We may have driven past 3 dozen wineries.  We even recognized some of the labels.

In 1862, gold was discovered south of the confluence of the Kawarau and Clutha Rivers and there was extensive gold mining in the area.  The “Bannockburn Sluicing” mined “alluvial gold” so we expected it to be in a river.  However, the gold was deposited in ancient rivers before the land was uplifted.  The gold was in layers of sediment in cliff faces and hills now hundreds of feet above current river level.  The miners used “hydraulic sluicing” – pressure hoses of water – to expose those levels and then used conventional sluices to separate the (tiny bit of) gold from the (massive amount of) mud and rock. 

We had a thoroughly enjoyable hike on the Bannockburn Sluicing gold mine.  The track runs through this moonscape of the old mine.  Along the way, we saw the old Stewart Town, a pile of stones where the old blacksmith had operated, lots of rubble or tailings, and a ‘stepped aqueduct’.  The surrounding landscape was very dry.  In the distance, we saw the Clutha River (or maybe it was the Kawarau as they come together there), and many vineyards and fruit orchards.  Many of the vineyards and orchards are veiled in netting, sometimes for acres.  Presumably, this is to prevent birds.

In the 1990s the Clyde Dam was built as part of New Zealand’s hydroelectric strategy.  This resulted in the creation of Lake Dunstan and the moving of the Cromwell town centre.  

Hot from our hiking, we searched for a picnic spot for lunch.  In the end, we had to create our own on Lake Dunstan, but in the process we got to drive over the Kawarau River on the Bannockburn bridge, an impressive structure.  Lake Dunstan proved to be an excellent antidote for hiker toes.

We picked up some stone fruit and some cider on our way home and arrived back in time to watch Ineos UK beat Luna Rossa Italy in the 6^th race of the Prada Challenger Cup.  (Luna Rossa leads 5 to 1 in a best of 13 race.)