16.12.2017: Trip to St. Bathans

Today we take a little time travel. The area around Cromwell is full of historic places that are closely linked to the 19th century gold rush. We visit one of them, St. Bathans, which is 60 km away from our hostel.

On the way there, following the straight highway, we pass the long-closed White Horse Hotel, which you can even enter. The door is adorned with dozens of spider webs, which adds even more authenticity to this lost place. Even the air inside hasn't been exchanged since the 19th century. After a short inspection of the run-down rooms, with the old-fashioned wallpaper peeling off the walls, we continue our journey.

In 1887, St. Bathans had 2,000 inhabitants, today only a handful of people live in the village founded in 1863 during the gold rush. Then, as now, people meet at the Vulcan Hotel, which also rents beds to tired travelers, for a beer and maybe even a meal. You can still drop off letters at the old post office. The church and the former prison, where you can now stay (voluntarily) for 145 NZD, have also survived the test of time. However, only ruins are left of the school building.

The neighboring Blue Lake, which has a rather greenish-gray color, was created by the mining activities on site. Today, despite the clouds, it is very warm, so I can even persuade Eric to take a little swim. The beach of the Blue Lake is deserted. You just have to be careful because only the immediate shore area is shallow and then it suddenly gets very deep. During our short swimming trip, Eric even saves a completely exhausted honeybee and collects karma points as a balance to the many killed sandflies. We have lunch in our swimming gear at a picnic table on the beach.

Back in Alexandra, I want to see the city's landmark, the Mountain Clock. It is located in close proximity to a lookout over Alexandra, which we first head to. From the parking lot, we even spot the Mountain Clock below us, and I scramble down the rocky terrain to it in scorching heat (29°C) to take a close-up photo. Audibly panting, I come back up to Eric after a few minutes. Next, we pay a visit to the old Shaky Bridge, from where you have a good view of the rock clock.

From here, we take a little tour through the city center, including a mini shopping spree for expensive groceries at the local New World supermarket. We spend the rest of the afternoon chilling on the hostel terrace with the cherries and apricots we bought yesterday.