Soon we arrived in the alpine village of Ohakune for the night. Ohakune doesn’t have a lot to mark it out, but it is famous for being a carrot growing region thanks to some enterprising early Chinese settlers, who I think may have diversified when the goldfields ran dry. (I am discovering that New Zealand was another place where people came to seek their fortune panning for gold in the mid 1800s, along with California.)
On our way out the next morning, we saw the big carrot I’d seen on the map (looking about a quarter of the size of the town according to the map – not entirely over exaggerated!)… and to my delight, various carrot related playground features. It’s always good to not take yourself too seriously, I find. (That’s my excuse, anyway!) In the background you may be able to spot the snowy mountaintops.
la perle 