We're back out exploring! In this episode we head head through Thompsons Gorge, head up Mt Moka for a quick look before making our way over to Skippers Canyon Road, also know as New Zealand's "Most Dangerous Road" and out towards the abandoned town where we were blown away with how epic it was! Exploring the South Island in winter is pretty amazing!
A simple farm track through a gorge with some amazing views! Connect it up with Hawksburn Road for a day trip from Queenstown.
Hawksburn Road, known to locals as the Pylon Road is a trail that offers a mixture of mainly 4WD gravel roads, some tar seal, and some very steep climbs, but if you’re fit and love an adrenaline rush and the vast open spaces– do it; you won’t be disappointed.
The Hawksburn Road runs between the historic township of Clyde and Bannockburn, skirting the Cairnmuir Range on the southern side.
This is a land rich in history. This was once the main travelling route to Bannockburn, the Clutha and Kawarau Basins during the gold mining era - sense their gruelling journey, their conquests and the tragedies of the rush for gold.
It may even have been the original Maori routes possibly dating back to the 13th century when moa were hunted in large numbers throughout the area.
Spend the day exploring the old gold mining town of Skippers after driving along one of New Zealand's 'most dangerous roads'. The history of the area is pretty amazing - you can even camp at the old Skipper township which is pretty awesome!
The 1862 gold rush lured thousands of miners to Skippers Canyon, closely followed by packers, blacksmiths, butchers and bankers. At its peak, the settlement boasted a post office, hall, hotel, stores and a school. When the school closed in 1927 it became a woolshed, and later left derelict for some 20 years. In 1992 it was restored by DOC.