 The 'meeting of the waters' - the discoloured Kawarau flow joins the clearer Clutha water at Cromwell township. | Yesterday, I did a couple of cross-country flights in our Skyleader GP One demonstrator light sport aircraft. It was neat on one flight to stooge around over areas such as Bendigo + Thomson's Gorge in the Dunstan Mountains, the Omakau/Ophir twin towns in the broad Manuherikia Valley and the extensive gravel tailings from the old Earnscleugh gold dredges. After a brief landing at Alexandra (NZLX), I climbed over the Cairnmuir Mountains, past the Nevis Road which winds its way up to Duffers Saddle and then followed the Bannock Burn down to Cromwell. |
I must admit to having a nostalgic moment above the 'meeting of the waters' at Cromwell. Before Lake Dunstan drowned the Cromwell Gorge in the 1980's and submerged the historic Cromwell road bridge, I kayaked the mighty "Cromwell Gap" rapids. All you see now is a placid lake, but then it was a churning mass of white-water. I still remember the adrenalin rush + the power of the water, but today I was calmly observing from far above.
