Time to visit hidden gems

How often do we all go sailing passed a sign to somewhere and think we will visit that one day??? 

Well as we now have time we are making the time to stop and visit some of these such places. One that we recently took the time to detour into was the Historic Lindis Pass Hotel. 

You may well be asking yourself where that is, and like us having travelled that route many a time, not even know that there had been a hotel in that area. In fairness to us all though, I think it is only recently that a group of dedicated people have done some restoration work and in conjunction with DOC, to make it available for visitors and campers alike.  The road into this site turns onto Old Faithful Road, opposite Timburn Road, which is on the other side of the river to SH8, though if you know where to look you can see the site from this road. There is a rest area not far from this viewing spot and an information board gives you some of the local history. 

Part of the information board.

Our Motorhome Directory that lists all the camping spots, says that the road in is windy, steep and not suitable for large vehicles so taking its advice we have not ventured in with the bus. 

Our opportunity came last weekend when we were returning from Clyde in the car (to replace the hot water cylinder) and as we were in no particular hurry decided to drive the 6km in to have a look.  

The road is not as difficult as it says, and we are sure the bus would easily make it. In fact there were a couple of large vehicles already in there and it is a lovely camping spot.

The old hotel has been an amazing place in its time, and much of it is still standing. The rooms are clearly defined with the kitchen being easily identified by the old coal range.

This is definitely well worth a stop, perhaps a place for a picnic lunch the next time you are heading through the Lindis.

Another gem that we have discovered is yet another DOC campsite, but very much closer to Geraldine and probably somewhere we wouldn’t have ventured had we not being having an extended stay in the area. On Sunday my sister and brother-in-law were bringing a meal for lunch so we decided to take some time to explore the area we have never been to before. Waihi Gorge is only 14km from Geraldine and we thought it looked a good place to spend on a hot sunny Canterbury day. We weren’t wrong. It is such a lovely spot with the Waihi River weaving its way through lots of native bush.

There were lots of other people here, some camping and some just for the day out.  There are no formed tracks as such but there are certainly plenty of places to walk along the river. 

We took our bikes and biked the 6 or so km to the end of the road. We got some spectacular views from the top down into the gorge and right near the top you look down onto some waterfalls. The more adventurous have walked down, as you could see a track, but we decided the zoom on the camera was enough for us today. The whole area was so quiet, except for the bird song, and the occasional sheep or cow. We could have done with Lloyd (bird expert from In’gill) to help us identify the different birds in the native bush that surrounds the area. 

Once again this is a place we could easily return to for a night or two of camping.