I realised the other day that I hadn’t posted all of my NZ walks to date. This is the walk I missed: A longish but mostly flat walk to the tops of the Old Woman Range, an arid alpine plateau near Cromwell in Central Otago. There were many tors along the way, and views of nearby mountains. Track notes at the end.
Duffers Saddle to the Old Woman Range: The Scenery







Track Notes

We did this on our second trip to New Zealand in 2012, which was the beginning of a more concerted effort to hike more. On this walk you drive to one of the highest points on a through road in New Zealand: Duffers Saddle on the Nevis Road, at about 1275m of elevation. From there you walk south-ish through farmland as I remember, then onto the plateau where the walking is mostly flat. You can continue for as long as you like, but I think we turned back at a boundary fence.
We used track notes in Day Walks of Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes District, but it’s hard to pick up that book nowadays. You can see the route on the Google map below, following the vehicle track from the pin marker southwards.