We went to Erehwon Station (Nowhere spelt backwards) a couple of years ago but as you can see by the photos later in the post we didn’t see much as the weather got worse the more inland we traveled.

Earlier this year we had another trip to this amazing area, this time it was a much better day and we got to see the beautiful mountains and spectacular scenery. It was still cloudy but reasonably clear, looks like we will have to go back again on on a clear sunny day 🙂

Lake Camp – Lake Camp, located 45 minutes from Methven, is the only lake in the area where power boating is permitted. Swimming, boating, water skiing, kayaking, windsurfing, and kite-surfing activities tend to dominate in this glacier-formed lake.

Lake Clearwater village –  The village of around 100 holiday homes first started as a collection of fishing and duck shooting cribs in 1925. Lake Clearwater popular for holidays, boating and fishing – The lake borders, and is proposed to be included in, the Hakatere Conservation Park which covers nearly 60,000 hectares of rugged mountain country, tussocklands, beech forest and sparkling clear rivers and lakes between the Rakaia and Rangitata Rivers.

Lake Clearwater

Haketere Potts Road winding down the hill to the valley below.

Traveling along the Rangitata river valley towards Erehwon Station.

Mt Sunday – Nestled in the Hakatere Conservation Park on Mt Potts station is Mt Sunday. This was the location of Endoras, the capital of Rohan in the Lord of the rings films.The production crew took nine months to build the set at the top of the sheer cliffs.

The entrance to Erewhon Station

Erewhon station – this time the day was better and we could see the amazing valley and mountains

This was on our first visit to Erehwon Station but at least we saw the Clydesdale horses below. This time they must have been working somewhere on the station. The station includes a large Clydesdale horse stud and they endeavor to use horses instead of vehicles. They also have tours ranging from a one hour wagon ride to genuine saddle or wagon high country adventure and accommodation.

How to get there:

From Mount Somers you turn onto Ashburton Gorge Road which is signposted as Lake Clearwater. The trip takes about an hour, the last 40 minutes from historic Hakatere is on gravel road which is in good condition apart from some corrugations. You will pass Lake Clearwater and lake Camp,  it’s approx. 25 minutes from there.