Gone tent

The forecast for the south for the next couple of days is bad weather, so we decide to move north where it is supposed to be better. We ended up at the Eyre Mountains where we’ve been before and opt to go to the Mt Bee hut again, which is up in these very mountains

It looks like we’re going to get rain here too

We made it to Mt Bee hut, a proper 4WD track to get there and nobody else is there today

We even get some shunshine up here

This is such an amazing place for a hut

Me, thoroughly enjoying my first ever puffer jacket, it really keeps me warm, love it!

Inside the hut we keep warm by having the fire going, we can even cook on the stove though it’s not very fast

We spend hours trying to play a Trivial Pursuit version from like 40 years ago with heaps of totally outdated questions, tough!

We’re at the Piano Flat Campsite

And here we are on the Shepherd Creek Hut 4WD Track

When we got to the hut we saw on a map there was another hut further North, called Dog Box Hut, we are now walking towards that hut, to see what it’s like

Rachel crossing Eyre Creek, walking poles are really handy when crossing water

Sometimes you have to walk through a muddy bit

But then you simply rinse your feet in the creek

We made it to Dog Box Hut

I’m sooooo glad we didn’t decide on spending the night here as this ‘hut’ in quite unlike your regular Doc hut!

Being so small the hut is indeed more for a dog

Nice views

Back at Shepherd Creek Hut, we got the fire going and it is snugly warm in there

The view south

The view north

A drone shot of the peaks we walked to yesterday

You can see how remote the hut is, there’s one drawback to that: if your car battery is empty because you were stupid enough to leave some devices charging overnight then AA Roadservice needs to come a looooooong way to come help you out. And since it’s a 4WD track it took me 2 hours of begging AA Roadservice on the phone to please find someone who was willing to drive up there as their regulars didn’t want to risk it. Eventually someone showed up and jump started our car. Thank you for the awesome service, AA!

When we were finally on the road we drove to Mandeville, this is shortly before we got there

Lovely roads, great scenery

In Mandeville is the Croydon Aircraft Company, pictured here is I think a Tiger Moth

Hard to imagine this once flew

Even a glider! A Musger Mg 19a Steinadler

A Fox Moth

A Dominie

A Aermacchi and a handful of other planes

They do a lot of restoration here

Engine stuff

No idea what this is

This was an interesting stop, the Croydon Aircraft Company

There’s also an old but beautifully restored locomotive in Mandeville

It’s right next to the aircraft musuem

It’s an old Rogers K92

Pretty shiny

I don’t think I had ever seen one like this in real life before

But it’s nice

It would have been awesome if they offered rides in it

Just imagine watching the scenery go by whilst sitting in this wagon

They used this to transport the post in the old days

Rachel is super happy, fresh fruit in Roxburgh

The hydropower station at Lake Roxburgh village

The Roxburgh Aerodrome, good to have seen it as it’s perfect for a landout with a glider if the need ever arises

It’s still morning with nice light so I sent up the drone

That’s our camping spot, the red dot in the middle is the car

We drove the Mt Bee 4WD South Track up to the Mt Bee Bunkrooms and decided to walk the Mt Bee North Track which we had just started where this photo was taken

Another lovely day

For some reason I always end up with little stones in my shoes

Looking east, Mataura Range in the distance

Eyre Forest

Rachel taking photos of plants

The view north, we decide to just keep going until the track stops, which seems like quite a way from here

No idea what these are called but they’re pretty

The track has kind of disappeared now but we still continue a little further

We could go even further but we decide to stop here and maybe fo further another time

So we have a break before we head back

Some rain moving in

Which gives us a great rainbow

Why is everything within the rainbow circle always brighter than outside of it?

Almost back!

That was an awesome walk but also glad to be back at the hut and have a decent meal

Golden hour

What a fantastic place to be! Nobody else but us and an awesome starlit sky

The view towards Athol and Mossburn

Inside the hut, Rachel is still sleeping

This is the other, less used, part of the hut, not even a fireplace here, brrrrr

Trotters Plain

We’re now at the Devil’s Staircase on SH6 from Kingston to Queenstown looking west towards the Eyre Mountains

The view north

A little further looking at Halfway Bay

Now at pretty much the beginning of the Skippers Road, by some described as dangerous

Beautiful rock formations

Luckily not much traffic

On this long and winding road

And countless amazing views

What remains of the Welcome Home Hotel

The Shotover River

When driving here you’re constantly hoping there won’t be any oncoming traffic as the road is narrow with steep cliffs on either side

Just past the Devil’s Elbow, time for a break, shame about the sandflies though

Walking towards Maori Point Flat

Where there’s still a lot of evidence of all the gold mining

Like this boat

View from Maori Point Saddle

Pleasant Creek Terrace

Skippers Bridge

It’s been here for 120 years now

And you can still drive it

Little kind of hut just north of the bridge where many people must have enjoyed a welcome rest