March 5, 2021
Beaumont to Lawrence
The end of Clutha Gold, a look at Gabriel’s Gully and lift to bonny Clyde.
Day 10 March 5 Friday
Beaumont to Lawrence. 23kms
The end of Clutha Gold, a look at Gabriel’s Gully and lift to bonny Clyde.
Breakfast at Beaumont Tavern and chat to our Icelandic host. No coffee sadly (coffee plungers seem scarce in Otago- or it could just be us?) but the muesli is ok. I ask if they get many cyclists and am told no because they like ensuites. I would have liked one myself but I’m not complaining.
I fetch our bikes from the garage with the big padlock that I was advised not to close last night. Have they lost the key? Our bikes are quite safe anyway and we take our leave wishing our host and his wife farewell.
We cross the river on the bridge with the cyclists’ light button and slightly more corrugations than are tolerable early in the morning. On the trail, it’s pleasant and easy cycling away from river though rather near road at times. It seems strange not having a river to follow. Parts of this trail must have been a rail line once, because there’s a tunnel. We are not sure where the joins are though.
We have a couple of small climbs and one 400metre tunnel which saves us quite climb. Next is Evans Flat where flax was milled and soon we reach the turn off to Gabriel’s gully though we opt to keep on to Lawrence. At this point the rain starts; not heavy at first, but then growing in intensity. Our faithful Ground Effect jackets keep us dry.
We cycle past the Chinese village, on the outskirts of Lawrence. This is where the Chinese were relegated, away from the town. Seems shocking to read this today. We come into town beside the Tuapeka ( ‘One a pecker two a pecker fine bright gold’) River.
Lawrence had a impressive number of stately Victorian and Edwardian era buildings, though I have to confess, it’s a cafe we’re looking out for. This is for two reasons- 1. Our shuttle pickup rendezvous and 2. COFFEE! We’re starting to feel a little chilly and need a hot latte. We find The Wild Walnut Cafe and meet up with friends Bob and Mary again.
Restored by coffee, we decide on a quick jaunt to nearby Gabriel’s Gully to fill in an hour. With the rain cleared we see that the Gully today is a peaceful valley compared to the active scenes of the early 1860s. The gold rush here attracted about 11,500 hopefuls in 1861, twice Dunedin’s population at the time, and led on to the Otago gold rush.
Looking up the valley now, it’s hard to imagine the multitudes of tents, lit by candles of an evening and echoing to the sounds of a variety of music. Almost like some modern rock concert. It’s fitting somehow that we’ve come to the place where it all started, after seeing the next stages already. Gabriel Read, made little from the goldfields himself it seems, and after a few years headed for Tasmania, married and ran a farm, dying in 1894, after some years suffering a manic depressive disorder.
We are met by shuttle driver Steve, back at the Wild Walnut Cafe. He greets us and I help load our bikes onto his trailer. He tells us that he has a brand new Ford Transit van and we are the first passengers. It smells like a new car.
The ride to Clyde is swift and we are soon ensconced in The Hartley Arms, a small stone cottage with a wooden one attached. A former Irish innkeeper collected eggs from the hens along the river bank. His main dish was eggs- breakfast, lunch and dinner. The cottage has a beautiful garden- lavender, hollyhocks and several native varieties.
In the evening we dine out in the old part of the town with our friends and celebrate a wonderful trip so far. Our plan now is to explore Clyde and Cromwell before heading to Queenstown.
Today's ride: 27 km (17 miles)
Total: 363 km (225 miles)
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