A Long Way to the Movies

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a cooler day with less/no sun in the morning. It felt cold although it was calm. It looked like the solar panels might struggle to do their job. We headed off to the movies. We are in Cromwell – more Lowburn really – and the theatre was in Arrowtown. They were showing the NZ film Strength of Water, filmed in the Hokianga. We’d read about it after we’d been through there a couple of times, and figured we’d catch it somewhere. But it didn’t seem to last long at the theatres anywhere and disappeared before we got ourselves organised. So 2pm at Arrowtown yesterday seemed like a good idea, and Arrowtown is only about 45kms away so what the heck. We arrived there about 11am and made a bee-line for a coffee shop that was nice and warm. I’d dug out my heavy jersey again, and was still feeling the cold. However by midday it was starting to clear and it turned into a lovely afternoon. We found a killer bakery at the top end of the main street. Wyn got a satay chicken pie with pastry made by someone who knows how to make pastry. I got a ciabatta roll thing stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes and herbs and things. It would be a dangerous place to stay too close to.

We were the only ones for the 2pm movie so had the run of the theatre – we chose the comfy couch in the back row. It was a great little movie in the fine tradition of dark little NZ movies. It helped us to understand the Hokianga and Northland a bit better and reflected some of what we’d taken in while we were there. The Hokianga is a long way from Central Otago in most ways. It seemed appropriate somehow to step out of there into the bright sun-light.

We were keen for a walk and Wyn suggested the Tobin Track which was the original road from Arrowtown up onto the Crown Terrace en route to the Cardrona gold fields. Mr Tobin got the job of building it, and did a fine job if you ask me. It’s now a foot and mountain-bike track. We wished we’d brought shorts and more water, but took the climb slowly in the heat of the afternoon. Part way up the ruins of his house remain, a poignant reminder amongst the trees. The views out from the Crown Terrace at the top were fabulous, out across the basin to Lake Wakatipu and beyond. Picking out the various golf courses was interesting. It was getting on by the time we got back to the car, after 6pm and time for home. We made it back in time for Coro Street and a late easy tea after a great day out.

This entry was posted in Daily log. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to A Long Way to the Movies

  1. Shona Weastell says:

    Hi guys, haven’t read your blog for a while before now. Life gets so busy and time just goes by. Great to see you are still enjoying your lifestyle and bike rides etc. Hope the bottling job etc. works out well. All the best. Shona

Leave a Reply to Shona Weastell Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.