Power of the Dog 4WD trip

 Our day starts with a morning walk along the river. It is another great day. We have been very lucky with the weather.

 


Old and New Bridge side by side










At around 10 am we climbed about the Mitsubishi 4WD ute and headed off to do a bit of bush bashing through an area that was used as the film set for the movie "Power of the Dog". Also recently filmed in this area is the next series of "East of Eden" soon to be released on Netflix.

Stunning countryside

Soon we began to see some livestock, having not seen a lot driving along the main roads. This flock of sheep seemed very keen on occupying this particular corner of the paddock."

One of the hazards of driving this track is the "What the F#@!" sign, which appear regularly with little explanation of what you are about to experience, other than it is wise to slow down.




As we are now driving through farms, cattle also wander aimlessly along the roadside and we have to wait a few times for a clear path through.





A couple of bulls were having a bit of a dispute over one of the ladies





The route took us through many gates.


This sign was of particular interest "If you see a Wallaby, Report It". Possibly posted by the All Blacks.




Through a number of water courses.


And past some great scenes of old sheds with great backdrops.


Ultimately, we ended up at St Bathans, stopping at the Vulcan Hotel for lunch. Another classic old country pub in a great setting in the middle of nowhere.


Great food and a lovely outdoor setting to enjoy it in.



St Bathans is a former gold and coal mining town, once being the centre of the Central Otago Gold Rush. There are many well preserved historic buildings and the main attraction here now is the blue lake , a small man made lake created by gold sluicing.


The Blue Lake


We are soon back on the bitumen and on our way back to Alexandra where we have a 3pm appointment for a wine tasting at Ruru Winery, a short distance out of town and on the rail trail we walked the other day.




Ruru Wines : The owners built this home/ cellar door themselves


We settled in for a tasting of 5 of their wines and a great cheese platter to go with it. We spent a lot of time talking to one  of the owners who eager to please and gave us some great insights into their wines and some of the difficulties of operating a small family winery in amongst a number of larger well known competitors. As the discussion continued, a few more wines were wheeled out for tasting.  They made some very nice wines and we all bought a few.



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