Touring S.I. towns and resorts

Press, 9 November 1984, Page 34

Touring S.I. towns and resorts

ALEXANDRA: The town is the centre of an extensive fruitgrowing and sheeprearing area and is the hub of Central Otago. The region has the lowest rainfall in »' New Zealand and is watered ■ I by extensive irrigation. The | world’s second-largest clock i overlooks the town from the I Knobby Range to the south. I The clock is 10m high and is I lit by 1500 electric torch I bulbs. Alexandra grew from ( early gold discoveries and I was named Lower Dunstan I until Edward, Prince of I Wales, married Alexandra, | Princess of Denmark, in 1863. The town now has New Zealand’s only blossom festival, in September. ARTHUR’S PASS: The township is a mountain village and headquarters of the National Park of the

same name. It is set in spectacular wild scenery of mountain, river and forest, with Mount Rolleston (2272 m towering nearby. The centre is popular with ■ nature lovers and trampers, and skiers in winter. The museum has an old coach used on the trans-Alpine route. The road was one of the last over which Cobb and Co. regularly sent horse-drawn carriages. ASHBURTON: A farming community 85km south of Christchurch, and one of New Zealand’s major trotting centres. The town is also known for its stately some dating back more than 100 years. The area between the Rakaia River and Ashburton was known to settlers as a desert, having no water, and 1 parts that were not arid, were swamp. ■ Today, the plains are crisscrossed with irrigation canals bringing water and prosperity. There are many buildings, and places of interest in and around Ashburton, including Longbeach Chapel, Mount Somers, Lake Heron, and Erewhon and Mesopotamia Stations. DUNEDIN: This city sits , at the head of a fiord-like inlet and is ringed by seven hills. The name is Celtic for Edinburgh and was built by Presbyterian Scots. In its early days, it was the largest and wealthiest city in New Zealand, thanks mainly . to the gold field? It then became a financial and construction centre. Dunedin is said to be the most perfectly preserved Victorian city anywhere. It has been responsible for many firsts: the first to have gaslight, water mains, hydro power and steam trams. Dunedin is now an important manufacturing city and busy port. FAIRLIE: A town 305 m above sea level. Industries include aerated water, limeworks, sheep farming and sawmilling. It has a golf course, swimming baths and

1 ice skating rink. It services i the wild Mackenzie country. , FOX GLACIER: The 1 longest of the South Island’s . 360 named glaciers. It falls ■ 1 more than 2000 m to well , below the bushline, thrusts ing white cliffs of ice to 1 only 213 m above sea level. > The more accessible slopes ' of the snow carpet are 1 . clothed in dense evergreen : forest. The scene is made all the more spectacular : when crimson rata and ’ snow clematis bloom. Heli- ' copter and ski-plane rides and bush Walks are avail- ; able. Guided tours of the ice are also made. GERALDINE: A town : well situated for easy access to winter and summer tourist attractions: alpine ski fields and coastal beaches and rivers. Local facilities include a race- j course, a park and rose gardens, swimming baths and golf course. Geraldine Downs provides a magnificent panorama. The native bush reserve is a reminder of Geraldine’s beginning as a timber milling town. Maoris used the timber for canoe building. INVERCARGILL: A wide, . open city with well-laid out < thoroughfares and 1200 ha of parklands. There is a botanical reserve, a 6000 sq m ruse garden, a rhododen- I dron walk, iris garden and wildlife sanctuary. St John’s Anglican Church (1877) and St Mary’s Roman Catholic, | Basilica are worth a visit. I So too is the museum and the Anderson Park gallery. Stewart Island can be reached by air, and is well worth a day trip. The nearby port of Bluff is renowned for its oysters. OAMARU: The port for North Otago, it serves an I extensive farming district. The town is known for its g stone buildings made of g white granular limestone I and often classically styled. I The sheltered landing place I was known to sealers and | whalers but the first settler g was a runholder. All its I

streets are named after English or Scottish rivers. PICTON: The terminal port for the Cook Strait ferry. Tourism is a major industry, with visitors coming to Marlborough Sounds all year, and with a constant flow of inter-island traffic. The region is good for picnicking, fishing, swimming and hiking. QUEENSTOWN: The first European to have visited this part of Central Otago explored Lake Wakatipu on a raft. That was in 1859. Should he return now, he would find a bustling, colourful, holiday resort known to many international travellers. The town nestles beside the lake, under the towering Remarkables. It offers a host of tourist attractions for the visitor

from helicopter flights and trips on jetboats to walks, tramps and climbs, and even a cruise in a 1912 twinscrew steamer. Queenstown is a popular ski centre. There are many places of ; interest in the region, in- i eluding the Skippers Canyon ! and Arrowtown. The motor i museum is also worth visit- i ing. | TIMARU: Formerly a whaling station. The ex- j posed cove caused several shipwrecks before the breakwater was formed. Today, it is one of New Zealand’s largest frozen-meat exporting ports. Buildings of interest include the Pioneer 1 Hall Museum, St Mary’s Anglican Church, the old lighthouse and the Aigantighe Art Gallery.