Day 125 Waitaki Valley, Vanished World Fossil Trail, Timaru

Today is February 2nd, Day 125 and we are heading up the Waitaki Valley.  We were on Hwy 83 and we were following the Waitaki River which was on our right. There were mountains on each side of us and in between was some pretty nice farmland.

It was at Duntroon that we met up with the river and the Center for the Vanished World and Fossil Trail. 

The stop at the center was both entertaining and educational.  The Fossil Trail reveals the ancient history of North Otago through fossil sites, extinct volcanoes, mineral deposits and major landforms.  Some of these fossils were of animals that I didn't even know existed. One was a shark toothed dolphin that was 16-20 feet in length and lived about 25 million years ago.  Another was a large penguin standing 5 - 6 feet high and also lived about 25 million years agon.  It is likely that the dolphin was a predator of the penguin.



Head of Shark Toothed Dolphin
















Actual Size Mock Up of Penguin



There was also a skull of an extinct dolphin that lived about 25 million years ago.  The dolphin was about the same size as the ones we see today but there was a noticeable difference to their nose or snout.

We dragged ourselves away from the center.  I was hungry.  The restaurant was just down and across the street from the jail.  The date of the sign is 1916.

Duntroon Jail Circa 1916

Once we finished lunch we took a slight detour to see "The Elephant Rocks".  The area features strangely sculpered remnants of Otekaike Limestone.  At one time this area was underwater and the limestone started out as limey sand on the sea floor.  The sand was buried and gradually turned into rock.  In recent time, within the last million years, the limestone was uplifted.  Water and wind weathered the limestone into the shapes they are now.

If you look close and really let your imagination run wild some of the rocks are reminiscent of elephants.

There were also a number of scenes from the first "Chronicles of Narnia" movie filmed in the rocks and surrounding area.

We spent the rest of the day following the Waitaki River until we came to Lake Aviemore.  It was here that we crossed over the Aviemore Dam and circled Lake Aviemore.  In order to get back on the main highway we crossed over The Benmere Power Station. This had us reversing our trip until we got to Kurow.  At this time we crossed over the Waitaki River and followed the other side of the river until we got to the coast.  We then turned north and followed it into Timaru which was our destination for the night.