2846 Hakatere Potts Road, Ashburton Lakes, Ashburton

Erewhon

The Approach to Erewhon
by Celia Walker

The name is a play on nowhere, and, for city dwellers at least, it seems very much to be nowhere at all. Thoughts of New Zealand as a small country seem misguided here – the sweeping tracts of hill country and enormous braided Rangitata riverbed that the station sits beside show a virtually uninhabited vastness that is quite hard to comprehend. ‘The solitude was greater than I could bear’ is just one of Samuel Butler’s passing landscape observations in Erewhon (1872) – his descriptions of this place based on his explorations and time as a sheep farmer in nearby Mesopotamia Station. The landscape is grand, not the buildings, which are inconsequential. Although a crowd of shearers can fit into the accommodation block there is definitely not a grand farmhouse that the settler heritage of this high country station might evoke ideas about. This is a working farm and the no-frills buildings reflect this, with the only notable vintage structure being the original shearing shed, with its rustic red roof and sagging woodwork.
To pull you into this place, and really get a sense of the surroundings, a stay here is offered alongside trips out on a wagon pulled by the station’s team of horses. The farm runs a Clydesdale horse stud, and much of the day-to-day farm work is done by horseback, still the easiest way to get around this at-times difficult terrain. The wagon pulled by these giant creatures is quite a different experience from gimmicky city rides – this is all bumps and roughness, with some serious
country surroundings. The approach to Erewhon has the character of a Grahame Sydney painting, all open valley and soft light. It runs alongside the Rangitata River, including the part of the Rangitata Valley around Mt Sunday that was the Edoras set from Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is not unlikely that you might find your way temporarily delayed by passing flocks of sheep (we did), true Country Calendar moments that show that in some places, change is reassuringly slow.

LORD OF THE RINGS HIGH COUNTRY STATION INCLUDING EREWHON DAY TOUR

ErewhonWriters in Residence: Pioneer New Zealand WritersCanterbury Foothills & Forests: A Walking and Tramping GuideImage Credits: Celia Walker

Features

  • Camping

Location

Directions

Nearby this Place

Explore

Featured Nearby

You May Also Like

Mt Potts Lodge and Erewhon Park Skifield
Mt Potts Lodge and Erewhon Park Skifield

Ashburton Lakes, Ashburton

4.8 km 1

Mt Sunday - Edoras
Mt Sunday - Edoras

Ashburton Lakes, Ashburton

5.2 km 1

Mesopotamia Station
Mesopotamia Station

Ashburton Lakes, Ashburton

15.1 km 1

Ashburton Lakes
Ashburton Lakes

Ashburton Lakes, Ashburton

18.5 km 1