Avoca Homestead (almost)

Shanti reports…

Mum’s been a bit miserable. Something about floods and packrafts, so I was surprised when my morning routine of bugging Mum until she throws a ball (or seven) for me was interrupted by packing. Backpack… hmmm. Best wait in the car then.

So, by the time we got to Porters Pass I was fidgety as. No ball - and no toilet. Mum gave me a quick comfort and boredom break at Lake Lyndon. Score!

I tend to get a bit ball-focused (Mum calls it obsessed) so Mum has to call time out and remind me that I also wanted a comfort stop!

We travelled past our usual walking spots and turned off here.

The dirt road travelled back in the direction we had come from - and then Mum was in and out the car like a jack-in-a-box. Turns out there are a lot of gates on the road and you need to leave them as you find them. So Mum would hop out and open the gate. Hop back in and drive through and stop. Close the gate and off we’d go for a few metres. We crossed the railway line quite a few times too - and often there was a gate just before and just after the railway line. Mum said it was to keep the cows and sheep safe.

Anyway - 12 gates later we get to gate 13 and it appears locked. Mum thought she might have seen a sign back up the road so we reverse and park. The sign says it’s 2km to Avoca Homestead. It appears that is our destination.

If you get here before parking you’ve gone too far!

This is the sign you are looking for. The route follows the road next to the railway line. There was a slip a little bit further on, so they closed the road here. When you come to a gate with a big orange triangle you need to go through that gate too and down to the river.

The track is a bit muddy in places but there are walking routes around the mud… and it wasn’t long before we arrived at Broken River. I was trying to encourage Mum to throw pine cones into the water for me - but she seemed to be worried that the water was flowing too fast, especially as she could see a deep channel on the far side.

Our first view of the Broken River - note the nearby pine cones that Mum totally ignored. That’s an old viaduct in the middle distance and the sheds of the old homestead in the far distance.

The homestead and barns across the river. We were there - almost. This is my best: throw something look. It didn’t work.

Mum checked the river out and decided it wouldn’t be wise to cross on our own - just in case something went wrong. So we had a snack and headed back to the car - for another hour on the dirt road and that silly gate game. Seriously. Catching balls is way more fun that watching Mum open and close gates. I figured we would head home and I could get Mum to throw ball. Turns out I was wrong.

That’s Lake Grassmere on the way out. It looked very pretty but Mum said there was a no dogs allowed sign - sigh.