Golfing Antics in Cromwell

The drive through Cromwell Gorge

Finally, it’s time to hit the road to Cromwell, which involves driving along the astonishing landscape of the Cromwell Gorge. It just doesn’t seem real, the milky blue waters occupying the rugged steep-sided river gorge. The highway weaves perfectly along one edge of the gorge, reminding us of man’s determination. Most of the roads we drive on in New Zealand are built along extreme terrain. Mountains and rivers doesn’t stop anyone!

The Fruit Capital of New Zealand

30 minutes later, we cross the Clutha River into Cromwell, the “fruit capital of New Zealand” made known to the world by its giant sculpture of a few fruit items in the middle of town – just one of the 22 BIG things in New Zealand. Another thing in the middle of town is the Cromwell Golf Club.

Caddy, clubs and first-time golfers

We hire some clubs and even a golf caddy to carry our clubs and camera gear (and our lazy asses), then hit the course. For Robin, this is the second or third time he’s played golf, as for Laura, she remembers only playing once as a kid. Of course, we are both accustomed to the fine sport of crazy golf…

With chunks of grass flying everywhere at the first tee, we realise “proper golf” takes a hell of a lot more skill…

The great thing is though, that we are both as cr*p as each other, giving one another some competition.

Playing golf with a view

A highlight of each round is when the ball actually stays on the green, rather than getting lost in the long tussock. (Saying that, we didn’t officially lose any balls in the long grass, we always managed to continue play from between the pine trees or on sandy hills).

Giving each other competition whilst having tremendous views of mountains in all directions, we actually realise: “Hey, golf in New Zealand is actually quite fun.” Not to mention the hilarious time we are having with the electric golf caddy. Even if you don’t like golf, you can’t deny that driving a caddy is shamelessly fun.