Clay Cliffs & Lindis Pass – Day 184

Today we are going to the most Mars like place on Earth.

Today we have a super long drive ahead of us which we will explain more about later but before we leave the town of Omarama there is one attraction that we just cannot miss and that is the Clay Cliffs.

The Clay Cliffs are about a 20 minute drive Omarama down a few gravel roads and you have to go through a few gates as well but once we arrive there the views take our breath away. Already we can see those sandy coloured pinnacles in the distance but it’s just a bit of a short gravel track to make our way into the thick of those clay cliffs.

the Clay Cliffs are rock formations which have been created by ancient river deposits and we can see the distinct layers of gravel and silt which have been deposited by glaciers around 1-2 million years ago.

Thanks to a natural path that has been created by rainfall we get to get right inside the Clay Cliffs themselves and that’s really unique there’s not many places in New Zealand where you get to go inside a desolated and sharp landscape. The cliffs give a whole different feel to the whole area it doesn’t feel like we’re on the same planet anymore it’s quite awesome and the climb to go all the way up to the best viewpoint is actually quite steep and because the cliffs are such a light colour they reflected the heat making it really really really hot inside.

Although we were really comfortable in our merino wool layers when we were outside of those cliffs as soon as we get inside it becomes kind of a torture.

It’s a beautiful sunny day and I’m huffed and puffed.

From the top of the walkway we get to have a brand new feel on the whole place we are surrounded those very sharp peaks unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

This place is so amazing it literally feels like I’m in Mars right now I am stepping onto a brand new planet. I’m the first person that ever stepped in after Laura and I’m about to create a brand new civilisation. That is how I currently feel. This is so awesome. I love it.

So while I’m making some stories in my head of being stranded on Mars like if I were Matt Damon or something, Laura is taking heaps of pictures of the stunning surroundings and she even spots a lovely little bird amongst the rock she really has a really keen eye because there is no way I could have spotted this one myself. It really looks like a really young bird even a little bit injured that just fell from the nest but he looks like he’s really autonomous so we’re gonna leave it to do its things and we are making our way outside of the beautiful clay cliffs for now.

It’s incredible how different this place is from anything else we’ve seen in New Zealand. It stands alone in its majestic grandeur and its beautiful shape I just I have no words how great that was. I cannot understand how little people actually get to visit this place.

Even outside of the cliffs the whole area is super stunning we can see views of a braided river and there are a few those purple flowers called lupins which everyone goes nuts for in this area of New Zealand. And we really wish that we could stay here forever but we do have to hit the road at some point today because we do have a three hour drive ahead of us.

Robin has kind of screwed up our itinerary meaning that we’re driving three hours from Omarama to a place called Ranfurly in the middle of nowhere in the Central Otago region and we’re going to have to be backtracking up that road later. But nevertheless that means we get to drive on the beautiful Lindis Pass twice in this trip which is pretty awesome. Lindis Pass is often described as one of the most beautiful roads in New Zealand. It’s surrounded by these beautiful tussock covered mountains and it’s elevated at 971m above sea level.

We had a blast today uncovering the Clay Cliffs which is really an underrated place to visit in New Zealand and we loved driving through the beautiful Lindis Pass which is to me the most beautiful road to drive through in the whole country. See you tomorrow where we explore Ranfurly.

So we’re gonna be going something that we have never done before and never thought we would ever do but who would have thought in the middle of freakin’ nowhere in New Zealand we are going to have our very first curling experience. That’s right. Those pebbles that skim across the ice and you hit other pebbles this is the sport that we are trying for ourselves tomorrow so join us then.