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

Cairnmuir Mountains to the east

Still lots of low cloud this morning

But there is a sliver of blue sky in the far distance

The high point of today: Duffers Saddle

The scenery here is different from what I’m used to

This reminds me of the Sphinx

All of a sudden the sun broke through, choice!

Just off Upper Potters Creek Track we have some breakfast

This are is truly beautiful

Lots of oddly shaped rocks

Rolling hills

More rocks

We are south of Nevis Crossing now, this is the view to the west: the Hector Mountains

Looking back north, where we came from, so far the track is not impossible to do with a 2WD

Small cemetery in a huge valley

Always handy to know how far it is to the nearest pub

Tiny ruins reminding us of times gone by

Typical for Kiwi houses

Hard to imagine there once we enough people in the Nevis Valley to warrant a post office

“Population 3”

Lots of history here, Garvie Mountains to our east

The General Store, it was closed, why would anyone want to buy a general anyway?

South of Lower Nevis now, we’re getting closer to the proper 4WD part of the track

Still doable by 2WD but it’s getting narrower

The Nevis River

Lovely sunny day

Sheep may safely graze

Little House on the Prairie

These must be baches, nobody home at the moment

Interesting landscape here

Solitude

Nice place to camp, maybe next time

We’re now past the 4WD bit, it was so rough in places that I couldn’t really stop to take photos and the dashcam footage somehow got lost, will have to do it all again some time

Bye Nevis Road, Nevis Valley and Nevis River, you were awesome!

We spent the night at the historic Garston Ski Hut