Walking into old goldmining days
I started this walk at Alexandra Bridge where the old stone piles of the early bridge stands proud and picturesque beside the new one. The gorge has bluffs on both sides of the river. The blue-green colour of the water is a sharp contrast to the grey schist rock. I walked under shady poplars and willow trees before emerging out into more open country.
An advantage of the slower pace of walking, compared to cycling, is that it is easier to pause and search for old miners’ shelters in the stony bluffs. It takes a while to pick them out but suddenly you’ll see an opening in the rocks. A disadvantage for walkers, however, is that this is a shared trail, popular with cyclists – so walkers beware!
The same goes for the Lake Roxburgh Walkway on the other side – it’s a shared trail too. From Alexandra’s Pioneer Cemetery you follow an old bridle path that transported coal to the gold mining dredges 1890s-1930s. There are historic tailings and Chinese miners shelters en route. (About 10km return via the same track).
I cycled rather than walked another river track that runs for 12.4kms between Alexandra and Clyde (in the opposite direction to the Roxburgh Gorge Trail). I cycled it in 2006, after it was opened as part of Otago’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 1989. It was a pleasant ride with the sun piercing the willows and poplar trees like arrows aimed at the water.
Finally, don’t leave town till you’ve checked the time! A walk of about one hour return takes you up to the Alexandra Clock. This enormous timepiece was installed on the rockface near Alexandra in 1968. You cross the old suspension bridge (foot traffic only) across the Manuherikia River, pass vineyards at the foot of the hill and then climb steeply on a rocky track to the foot of the 11-metre wide clock.
I’m sure that the panorama spread wide below you is the best souvenir of Central Otago you could possibly find.