Kawarau Gorge

Here's young Kirwin parked in front of the Kawarau River as it flows through the gorge of the same name. Kawarau Gorge was a popular spot for gold miners in the mid-1800s. At the Cromwell end of the gorge is a very interesting tourist stop at Goldfields Mining Centre. You can walk amongst old gold miner's camps and see some of the original equipment still in working order. Kirwin had a go pointing the gravity fed water cannon at a bank of dirt. I think he liked the sense of power it gave him because it was tough work to wrench it away from him.

In the end he agreed to try digging the earth the old fashioned way. His little wings struggled a bit with the shovel and the low gold yield was probably a direct result of this. Kirwin was a tad frustrated at this point and started suggesting his gold pan would make a better jacuzzi.




At the Queenstown end of Kawarau Gorge you'll find the world famous A.J. Hackett's Bungy operation. The Kawarau Bridge site was also the first commercial bungy jumping site in the world, and the place where Zonk took her first leap of faith back in 1989.

Adjacent to the bridge is a winery owned by Hackett's business partner, Henry van Asch, aptly named Freefall Wines. On 20-Dec-2008, we stopped into the cellar as part of a guided wine trail. This is where Kirwin was romanced by his two Singapore Girls.

The winery also has a nice restaurant attached, styled in retro 1960s New Zealand decor. Here's a picture of Kirwin waiting patiently to be seated for lunch next to a vase of Mount Cook lilies, a native of NZ that grows well in this part of the South Island.

We also stopped at several other vinyards between Kawarau Gorge and Cromwell and learned that the entire region is declaring itself organic. This is not something that's normally easy to do so being somewhat isolated will work to their advantage. Kirwin would have loved a nice glass of red but he was designated driver for the day. Apart from that one slip up with his Singapore Girls, Kirwin was a good wee Kiwi and he stuck to the Coca-cola instead.

By the time we hit Peregrine Wines, Zonk was starting to sag at the knees. Here's a picture of Kirwin helping to keep her upright amongst barrels there.