Our stop in Gore was filled with history, art, industry and yet more giant sculptures. In the building that houses the isite, you will find a brilliant museum dedicated to the Old Hokonui Moonshine & Distillery https://www.oldhokonui-museum-distillery.nz/. Take the time to go and see it. It really is fascinating learning about the history of the original creators of said moonshine and the Temperance Movement in NZ at that time. Across the street from here in a glorious old building is the art gallery. Some interesting pieces to look at here. There is also some fantastic street art too. Gore’s town clock will interest you if you like mechanical things as you can see the movement and if you are lucky, you’ll see what happens when the clock strikes the hour! And then there are the HUGE animal sculptures. Gore is know for brown trout and naturally, there is a giant one of these as well as a Romney Marsh sheep. Industrial history comes in the shape of the Creamoata factory. In 1893 the Creamoata Mill in Gore was opened. It was the biggest mill of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere at the time. The brand grew bigger thanks to the creation of a brand representative called Sgt Dan. Over twenty years, the advertising spend on Sgt Dan was roughly $1.8million in the 1930s. I can’t imagine what it would be in todays $$. At its peak, more than five train wagons a day were filled with the processed Creamoata and sent for packaging. It is no wonder that the factory is still standing as a memorial to a huge part of Gore’s history.

Balclutha has a stunning relatively new building that houses several services including the isite. The building alone is worth a visit. We travelled between Gore and Balclutha along the Clutha Valley Road, stopping at Tapanui for a rather lovely coffee in the Benger Nui Cafe – it has a roaring fireplace too! This road runs alongside the Clutha River and is a lovely road to drive. As it was Saturday when we arrived, we thought we’d try and find some local rugby to go and watch and oh boy did we manage to find a great game to see. Passions were running very high between the two local teams and it was brilliant being a spectator with no vested interest in who wins, just being there for the rugby. Southern Premier match between Crescent v Clutha. Local rugby up close and loud – brilliant!