Maniototo
The Last Remaining Blank on the Map
The Maniototo had been an unknown quantity in my mind-map of New Zealand ever since I was first alerted to its presence by the title of a Janet Frame book - Living in the Maniototo. It was many years later before I discovered where it was and could locate it on a map, no doubt because most maps fail to even acknowledge its existence. It was a place I came to attribute a mythic aura to, and by the time of these winter travels of the South it was one of the last places in New Zealand I had been through.
On the second to last day of winter 2005 (August 30th that is) I set off for the Maniototo, first up Highway One to Gore then onto Highway 90. It was my first time on this road linking Southland to Central Otago, passing through the rural town of Tapanui it wound over lumpy agricultural land, a linking landscape between the Southland Plains and the rolling brown mountains of Central Otago. At Raes Junction I join Highway 8 and head West towards Alexandra. Following the valley of the Clutha River I pass by the early spring blossoms of the orchards growing cherries, apricots, plums, nectarines, peaches, pears, berries and apples. The gentle sloping mountains of the area dominate the horizon topped here and there by remnants of winter snow.
Around 1pm I enter the regional centre of Alexandra, here I'll turn onto Highway 85 and enter the western edge of the Maniototo. I grab a pie, drink, and cake and head off into the unknown, searching for a spot to stop for lunch. I drive for about ten k with not a rest area in sight before I stop roadside and sit on the car eating a warm pie. Flat farmland surrounds me with various snowy ranges in the distance. Though technically it is still winter the temperature is an amazingly warm mid twenties Celsius (70's F) and it could be a summer's day. The Maniototo does boast the coldest, hottest, and driest extremes in New Zealand, the climate a result of being a plateau a few hundred metres above sea level in the rain shadow east of the Alps. I carry on down the straight flat road, the clean gradient of the blue sky is decorated with an assortment of aesthetic cloud patterns. It's nice to be driving in a fresh landscape with nothing more on the agenda than to appreciate what ever is out there.
Naseby Curling Rink
I drive toward the St Bathans and Hawkdun Ranges and come to the turn off to the Blue Lake, I ponder a detour, but I'm heading for Maniototo's famous outdoor curling ice rink. It's 2.30 when I turn off to Naseby, curling capital of NZ. For the uninitiated curling is lawn bowls on ice with big tea pots. Naseby is the only habited place in NZ I'm aware of that boasts an iced over lake capable of supporting life. Images of the locals playing on the solid lake feature regularly in the media, but despite it's high profile I doubt many kiwis could find it on a map.
Here I am, entering the town of Naseby - set in amongst trees, including a lot of exotic pine, and with the ranges close by the village doesn't really have another NZ locale I can compare it with, I felt I was in North America, it sort of reminded me of Twin Peaks. In searching for the ice rink I came across a forlorn remnant of a summer pool, it was a weird place, a fifties small town America summer teenage ennui feeling came over me, Rebel Without Cause-esque. Maybe it was the pines. Heading out of town I noticed the sign to the rink that I'd not seen on the way in. The famous Maniototo Curling Rink turned out to be a duck pond, not surprising considering it felt like summer. Across the road from from the not frozen pond was a newly built world class indoor ice rink, I'd seen it on the news a few months ago, it is an all year round international curling rink.
Not far away from Naseby is the sprawling metropolis of Maniototo's capital Ranfurly, pop 732. Though not one of the South's more premier tourist destinations the township does boast to be the Art Deco Capital of the south and has a museum to prove it, along with good examples of architecture. I dropped into the museum and chatted with the lady curator and perused the collection of memorabilia and kiwiana.
It was getting on to late afternoon and my mind was turning to where I'd spend the night. The principle highways of the Maniototo, 85 and 87, if stretched out, would form a capital T. If I am to drive down all these highways in two days at some point I have to go over a road twice. Ranfurly is at the cross of the T on 85, in what was left of the daylight I would head across the rest of the top of the T to Palmerston on the Otago coast. Tomorrow morning I can double back along that road then turn and head down 87 towards Dunedin. Just past the cross of the T in the late afternoon light I came across the "you are now entering/leaving the Maniototo" sign nicely framed by the Kakanui Mountains. About the same point I noticed a nice configuration of crepuscular light and cloudscape and got an image of a unidentified stationary object.
Rock and Pillar
After a night on the coast at Shag Point another nice day greeted me as I retraced the 85 highway I'd traversed in the dusk last night. The surrounding landscape gradually changes from the rolling greens of the coastal hills to the brown and white ranges of the interior. By mid morning I was back at the junction of 85 and 87. Highway 87 was another anticipated stretch of road, it follows the Taieri River and is flanked by the evocatively named Rock and Pillar Range. I was not far along the road before I saw a stunning combination of colours. A hillside to the right was half standard brown and half fire-burnt black. On the left a brown field sat next to a fluorescent green field of fresh spring growth. Looking back over this green/black/brown mosaic the Ranges where all white in morning misty light, whilst just a few trees were placed mid distance to create a blissfull composition.
I passed through Hyde and dropped down a little underneath the Rock and Pillar Range, soon passing through the township of Middlemarch. Leaving the town the road rose again and the naming of the range became apparent as the landscape was littered with rocks and outcrops of all shapes and sizes. I stopped and crossed a fence to get closer to some rock and get a view back up the valley of the Taieri. A thin layer of broken cloud let through a soft light onto the landscape, another wonderful and unique South Island vista.
It wasn't long before I was leaving the Maniototo in my rear vision mirror and heading back to the more traditional pastoral landscapes. It was still early afternoon, I made my way to Lake Mahinerangi that I'd often espied on the map. It wasn't particularly spectacular and I headed back to the coast through some quite rugged forested country along a windy gravel road, past the Waipori Falls and coming out at Highway One about 30 kms below Dunedin. I was visiting a mate there tonight so I headed into the southern city to a nice motel room on St Clair beach and enjoyed the luxuries of a hot shower and Sky TV. I'd covered the Maniototo in two warm winter days and had been highly impressed with yet another flavour of the glorious south landscape. It had always seemed such a distant place but as I sat in my motel I pondered that the rock strewn landscape of Middlemarch was less than an hours drive away. Hopefully I'll be back some day.
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