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TRAVEL- NEW ZEALAND
LEIGH WILKINS
THANKS, I ' LL PASS
Rugged mountains and snowcapped peaks, you’ d be forgiven for thinking that New Zealand has some of the highest mountain passes in the world, the truth is slightly exaggerated, many are low, easy, and accessible, yet none diminish the spectacle they display.
We rode out from Kurlow, a sleepy village nestled between low mountains somewhere in the centre of the south island, it’ s claim to fame being the birthplace of the social security concept. Turning off the main road near the township of Duntroon we headed into farmland, spectacle in itself, picture perfect scenes around every corner, this looked to be the New Zealand most wanted.
Following the Maerewhenua River, the Duntroon Road soon took us into the region of Livingston, and we felt like the explorer of the same name as the road became a slip if black ribbon that snaked its way toward the sky, we were now on the Danseys Pass road.
Danseys Pass was cut in the late nineteenth century for use by the surrounding sheep stations, primarily those owned by the McLean brothers, who were the largest sheep farmers in the whole of New Zealand.
William Dansey had first crossed the region sighting a route for the pass in 1855, he took was on the look out for greater pastures for his animals. Today the pass track, although, with its wide well-formed surface, could hardly be called such, forms the boundary of a number of regions within the south island; the Waitaki, Central Otago, Canterbury, and Otago, all use it as a way delineating areas. Its path mostly takes in the northern foothills of the Kakanui Mountain range, and this is where the spectacular views come from.
TRAVERSE 107