The final day of my road trip through beautiful Central Otago was as varied as the landforms I travelled through.

(I’m reporting this somewhat post-facto because of the unfortunate necessity of having to earn a living to pay for all this fun stuff. And work has been busy now that we are out of at least some of the Covid-induced restrictions).

Took the Crown Range Road from Wanaka.  Along the way is the famous Cardrona Hotel.  It has been there for nigh on 160 years.  Its most colourful publican was a man named Jimmy Patterson who ran it from 1926 to his death at 91 in 1961.

His hygiene routine left much to be desired. He kept a wooden barrel that was filled with rainwater from the roof.  When a patron finished with his handle of beer Jimmy would swirl the glass around in the barrel and hang it up … Read more