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Central Otago
From Omarama, State Highway 8 climbs up and over the Lindis Pass, separating the Ahuriri River Valley from the Lakes District. Once over the other side, there’s no mistaking you’re in Central Otago. The landscape is dominated by the wall-like mountain ranges – the Dunstans, Pisa Range, Harris Mountains – and great lakes, Wanaka and Hawea, Wakatipu and Hayes. This is a landscape unlike any other in New Zealand, with the possible exception of the North Island’s Rangipo Desert .
Sheep would certainly have outnumbered humans for the better part of its history, had gold not been discovered in 1861 at Gabriel’s Gully, near the town of Lawrence, sparking a wave of prospecting throughout the South Island. Gold was just about everywhere: miners poured into the region from the east coast ports, the bulk of them along the 175km Dunstan Trail (which can be retraced in the summer on foot, by mountain bike or 4WD – use your own vehicle or join a tour with D-Tours (03 488 6177, www.D-tours.co.nz) from Dunedin to Clyde (known then as Dunstan). First tent cities, then towns, mushroomed on the plains and in the valleys of Central – Clyde, Cromwell, Queenstown, Arrowtown all date to the early 1860s. Many original stone buildings have endured as the climate is dry, so have adobe and mud brick buildings.
Life was pretty tough for most. You only need look at the well-preserved Chinese settlement at Arrowtown to see for yourself, and you can even try out the working conditions by having a go at panning for gold .
Sheep would certainly have outnumbered humans for the better part of its history, had gold not been discovered in 1861 at Gabriel’s Gully, near the town of Lawrence, sparking a wave of prospecting throughout the South Island. Gold was just about everywhere: miners poured into the region from the east coast ports, the bulk of them along the 175km Dunstan Trail (which can be retraced in the summer on foot, by mountain bike or 4WD – use your own vehicle or join a tour with D-Tours (03 488 6177, www.D-tours.co.nz) from Dunedin to Clyde (known then as Dunstan). First tent cities, then towns, mushroomed on the plains and in the valleys of Central – Clyde, Cromwell, Queenstown, Arrowtown all date to the early 1860s. Many original stone buildings have endured as the climate is dry, so have adobe and mud brick buildings.
Life was pretty tough for most. You only need look at the well-preserved Chinese settlement at Arrowtown to see for yourself, and you can even try out the working conditions by having a go at panning for gold .
