We decided to explore Cromwell township a bit the next morning. It was my turn to drive and we had our first scare of the day. I was approaching a round about leading in to the town when a car pulling a small caravan came barreling into the roundabout at speed. He managed to swerve at the last minute, when I expected that he would plough right into us. Then the caravan swung around, hit the median divider and became airborne, and I expected that would bounce into us but fortunately it bounced in the opposite direction.
The next problem was finding the Info Centre. We walked a long way before finally locating it in an obscure place in the corner of a cafe. With the exception of a couple of cafes, and the service station, everything in Cromwell was shut. That being the case, Bruce headed the motorhome out of town, along the Queenstown highway side of the lake and we found a nice place to relax, have a coffee and enjoy the scenery.
Bruce had intended that we would do the Reservoir walk, but time was getting away from us a bit so we decided to head back and towards our next overnight stay just out of Alexandra.
The landscape around here is probably the most barren in New Zealand. It is dry, rocky, steep and forbidding, and the only real colour is from the river running through it (the Clutha).
On the way through we took a bit of time to look out over the Clyde Dam – a great piece of engineering.
Our stay for the night was a Park Over Property just outside Clyde. It was OK but not quite what we were expecting. It said on their site it was just a short walk to the river paths, and Bruce felt he knew the way so off we went. We ended up walking through a big roading gravel pit, and although we could see the river, there were no walking paths evident. However, I can now say I have walked through a gravel pit!
Away From Home NZ 