While staying at the haunted Vulcan Hotel in St Bathans, I took the time to wander around the Blue Lake. Situated directly across the road from the pub, the lake is 800 metres long, 50 metres deep and completely man made. During the Otago gold rush, around the time of 1887, Saint Bathans transformed into a bustling town with nearly 2,000 miners living in the immediate vicinity. When the town was flooded with miners during the gold rush, the nearby Kildare Hill was transformed into a pit due to extensive sluicing operations. The pit was later filled with water and man into a lake. The lake really is amazing and it was while walking along one of the tracks that I started to ponder what St Bathans would be like without the lake. Would the town still hold the attractive quality it does if it didn’t have the lake? I think it would! Check out my daily blog from a small city. https://fromasmallcity.nz/ To purchase email john@caswellimages.com
It was late in the day and I had set myself the task of making it up to Observation Rock above the Stewart Island town of Oban before sunset. When I first read the title of Observation Rock, I’d imagined it being the end point of a long, mountain hike in a remote part of the wilderness. Instead, I discovered it was a short 20 minute walk from the town that resulted in magnificent views over Thule and Golden Bay and out to Paterson Inlet. The only issue being the short but steep walk to get there! Check out my daily blog from a small city. https://fromasmallcity.nz/ To purchase email john@caswellimages.com
I would like to suggest, and I’m talking from experience, that walking the hills above Clyde on a winter’s morning really is a unique experience. What made it all the more interesting was the fact that it was dark when I set out, there was a hard frost on the road, snow on the surrounding peaks and it was at least minus 4. I knew there was a lookout somewhere nearby, a bartender had told me about it the previous night and I had set out in the predawn darkness with lofty ambitions to find it. That morning, when I reached a point that was more ice than road, I left my car park in a spot where I hoped I would find it again and enjoyed walking the hills on a winter's morning. Check out my daily blog from a small city. https://fromasmallcity.nz/ To purchase email john@caswellimages.com
