Pt7 Day 4. Harper Village to Lake Coleridge Lodge - 08/12/17

Woke up reasonably early this morning - it had been windy all night but, as noted earlier, we were in a pretty good spot. We got underway just before 0700 and ended up doing just over 30km today in about 8.5hr walking time. GPS track for the day is here.

The first 22 km of today was on gravel road so not much change in the walking surface, although we did try and get off onto grassy patches beside the road where possible. We also came up behind a mob of several hundred merinos being driven along the road by a shepherd from Glenthorne Station. We had a brief chat but a truck came up behind soon after and we took the opportunity to go past the mob behind the truck.

Leaving Harper Village in early morning light.

Early on in the day - we are heading up the valley to the right.

Not entirely sure it slows anyone down!

Perhaps surprisingly, we haven't seen a lot of sheep to date.

Looking back up the Harper River where we came from yesterday.

Large area of fenced of wetlands on Glenthorne.

When it's hot and dry you can see things coming on the road a long way off!

Caught up with a mob of merinos being driven along the road.

The shepherd pushed them off the road so a truck could pass - we took the opportunity to pass too.

The rugged scenery helps ease the pain of the road walking, as did wandering past Lakes Selfe, Evelyn and Georgina. Apart from a couple of breaks in the shade (temp in the mid to late 20s) we stopped to chat to a retired couple at Lake Georgina for a bit (he was fishing for trout). Other than that it was basically a 22km road slog with nice scenery!! We broke for lunch just before we got off Harper Road - nice spot beside the road in the shade of some willow trees.

Here you just set up a quarry beside the road and wait for the gravel to come down the hill to you!!

Every now and then we need a "location" shot :-)

We had to take a selfie at Lake Selfe.

The entrance to Lower Glenthorne Station.

Looking back over Lake Georgina. We chatted with the couple in the caravan nearest the road.

Lunch spot in shade beside the road.

We then progressed onto Homestead Rd for a short walk to a stile that took us initially onto farmland (Lkae Hill Track) before leading us to a lake-edge track that was a little dodgy in places ! :-)  A brief climb up and over to avoid a bluff was followed by a little more up and down farm walking (having to follow poles close to a track but not being allowed on the track because the poles followed a legal public right of way was a bit frustrating at times, but such is life).  We eventually got onto Coleridge Intake Rd to take us towards the village.

Onto Homestead Rd now, just for a change :-)

Coleridge Station farm buildings.

Off the road and onto Lake Hill Track, around the edge of lake Coleridge.

Bit of a dodgy track in places :-) .........

.... with some scrubby bits to negotiate.

More of that portion of track.

Then we climbed away from the lake edge a little.

Some more views on the way.

​We then followed Coleridge Intake Rd for a bit until branching off into an arboretum, primarily conifers, planted by a previous superintendent of the power station, from the 1930s onward, from memory. This took us downhill towards the power station and village. Included in this was a short section alongside the penstocks which feed the water from Lake Coleridge to the station.

We emerged from the arboretum and walked a short distance down the road to Lake Coleridge Lodge where we were the only guests for the night. Just as we reached the Lodge we had a brief chat with a young kiwi, Rory, who was heading northbound. Met our host, Kevin, who showed us to our nice little room. We partook of some cold drinks from the fridge - later followed, in my case, by a nice cold beer! It was a very pleasant place to put our feet up for the night. We had also sent a food parcel here so Kevin retrieved that for us so we could organise the next stage of our trip.

Heading down to the arboretum.

Looking down the penstocks (the pano makes them looked curves when they are obviously not!) towards the power station, with the Rakaia in the background.

Power station.

Lake Coleridge Lodge entrance.

Went for a walk through the village. Going through the cemetery takes you down to the side of the river.

Quaint little cemetery.

Looking up the Rakaia valley from just beyond the cemetery.