Sunday 23rd February - Back to Cromwell

We awoke feeling cold even in our cabin and put the heater on to warm us whilst we got up! When we looked out of the window we were amazed to see snow topping all the hills around us. Temperatures had dropped considerably and it was the talk of the day in the shower block. Autumn it seems is starting to nudge towards us. Our hearts went out to the Auckland cyclists who we had intended to join on there epic high altitude journey. They were high up on the Nevis and I suspect camping in snow! 

I never like turning back or repeating the same bit of road but We want to finish our cycling on the Central Otego Rail Trail (http://www.otagocentralrailtrail.co.nz/), so back we went. We enjoyed our week near Queenstown but it still felt good to be on the road cycling again. We are tending to head east now though rather than south. It felt strange as we have been heading south (and further from home) since Cape Reanga at the top of North Island.

The prevailing winds are westerly and so proved the case today, so we had a strong wind on our backs and a mostly downhill route. The temperatures are  much lower however, a high of 16 degrees today.

We called in at an old goldfield ( http://www.cromwell.org.nz/things-to-do-cromwell/activities/goldfields-mining-Centre.aspx ) for a coffee and when we got to Cromwell we could not resist their little fruit market (http://www.mrsjonesorchard.co.nz/).

We got to the campsite early. We booked a cabin as it was very windy and a heavy thunderstorm was predicted. The wind dropped and beautiful sunshine so Catherine set off to town to shop leaving me to sort the blog. Ooop, the storm has hit and Catherine shot off without waterproofs! I am doing quite well though inside the cabin with the heating full on! It's lashing it down outside though!

The view from our cabin at Frankton near Queenstown . Snow on them there hills this morning.

At the goldfields and Catherine gets a phone signal and catches up on her texts.

Our stop as we entered Cromwell at the fruit warehouse.

They had a beautiful rose garden in the orchards too.