Drive the Kawarau River gorge from Queenstown's Frankton to the gold-rush town of Alexandra — 90 kilometres through New Zealand's most dramatic inland scenery. Kawarau Bridge Bungy, Gibbston Valley wines, Nevis Bluff, Clyde Dam, and the schist-stone streets of historic Clyde.

Stationen dieser Tour (20)

1. 1
   Welcome & Safety Welcome to the Kawarau Gorge run — one of New Zealand's great drives, right out of Queenstown's backyard. You're starting at the Frankton roundabout, and over the next hour and a half you'll trace the
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   Kawarau Falls & Frankton Arm As you cross the Kawarau River bridge, look left — that's Kawarau Falls, where Lake Wakatipu drains into the river. The lake level drops and rises a full inch every five minutes, a phenomenon Māori ca
3. 3
   Shotover Country You're in Shotover Country — named after the river that in 1863 was called the richest river in the world. Gold yields here were extraordinary. One prospector panned 32 ounces in a single afternoon —
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   Lake Hayes Lake Hayes is one of the most painted landscapes in New Zealand. William Fox camped here in the 1860s and painted it three times. The lake fills a glacially-carved trough — no inlet stream, no outlet,
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   Entering the Gorge You're entering the Kawarau Gorge now. The road narrows and the walls come in fast. The river carved this gorge through ancient schist — that flat, layered stone you'll see everywhere through Central
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   Kawarau Bridge Bungy On your left — the historic Kawarau Bridge. Built in 1880, it was the main route between Queenstown and Central Otago for over a hundred years. In 1988, AJ Hackett commercialized bungy jumping here. H
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   Gibbston Valley — Valley of the Vines Welcome to Gibbston — the Valley of the Vines. This is New Zealand's most altitude-challenged wine region. Sitting at 320 metres, by all logic too cold and too windy. And yet Central Otago pinot noir
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   Deep into the Gorge You're at the tightest section of the Kawarau Gorge now. The river drops fast here — it's one of New Zealand's best grade-four rafting rivers. The gorge walls reach two hundred metres in places. Those
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   Nevis Bluff Nevis Bluff, on your right — that three-hundred-metre wall of rock is the most technically challenging section of the Otago Central Rail Trail. Cyclists on the trail cross the bluff face via cable car
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    Gorge Transition The gorge has some company here — the Otago Central Rail Trail runs along the far bank, and on a clear day you'll see cyclists crossing the narrow bridges between river terraces. The trail follows the
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    Roaring Meg Roaring Meg — the hydroelectric station on the river bank. Built in 1931 to power gold dredges downstream. The Meg Creek falls into the Kawarau here, creating a cascade that still generates 4.2 megawa
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    Goldfields Mining Centre Coming up — the Goldfields Mining Centre at Kawarau Gorge. Active goldfield from the 1860s through the 1930s. The dredges and sluicing equipment have been preserved where they stopped working. You can
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    Approaching Cromwell The gorge opens out now into the Cromwell Basin — a broad flat-floored valley surrounded by tawny hills. The transition is dramatic: one minute you're in a tight gorge, the next you're in what looks l
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    Cromwell & Sanga's Pies Cromwell. Population six thousand and growing fast. If you're looking for a pie stop — Sanga's Pies on the main road is the genuine article. Lamb and mushroom. Don't skip it. Cromwell's old town is un
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    Lake Dunstan & Heading South Lake Dunstan, on your left — twenty-six kilometres long, created entirely by the Clyde Dam in 1992. The flooding of the Clutha River valley was controversial: Cromwell's historic town was lost, valuab
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    Mid Lake Dunstan You're driving along what used to be a productive river valley floor. Before 1992, this was orchard country — cherry and apricot trees extending down to the Clutha River, farmed by families who'd work
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    Clyde Dam The Clyde Dam — 102 metres high, 3.5 kilometres of tunnels, 15 years to build. It generates 464 megawatts — about eight percent of New Zealand's electricity. The fault line it sits on runs directly be
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    Clyde Historic Village You're in Clyde — one of Central Otago's best-preserved gold rush towns. The stone buildings date from the 1860s and 1870s, all local schist construction. The Dunstan goldfield centred here in 1862, a
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    Central Otago Wine Country You're in the heart of Central Otago wine country — the world's southernmost commercial wine region. Forty-five degrees south latitude, the same as Burgundy but in the opposite hemisphere. This valley
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    Grey Ridge Vineyard Grey Ridge Vineyard, coming up on your right — one of Central Otago's smaller independent producers. This area is the Alexandra Basin — drier and windier than Gibbston, which makes the fruit tighter a

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