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During winters in the 1930s through to the early 50s, Ngapuna Station regularly bustled with Dunedinite ski enthusiasts coming and going to a skifield high on the slopes of the Rock and Pillar Range. When the allure of Coronet Peak near Queenstown forced the closure of the field, the 70-bed lodge, Big Hut, fell into disrepair. In recent years the Rock and Pillar Trust has restored and refurbished the hut, opening it to the public as a base for such pursuits as cross-country skiing, tramping, rock climbing, botanising and landscape photography. It is recommended that only the well prepared venture up to Big Hut.
When not catering to skiers, Ngapuna was very much a wayside station used by local farmers. The station building was about the size of a city bus shelter and used mainly to keep sun off milk churns waiting to be rail freighted to Dunedin. The station has been closed since 1979.
Ngapuna -- Middlemarch
- Just 6km to Middlemarch and the finish/start of the Otago Central Rail Trail.
Ngapuna -- Rock and Pillar
- 7km separates Ngapuna from Rock and Pillar Station site.
- The opportunity for a leisurely ride or walk through productive farmland against a backdrop of the Rock and Pillar Range and Strath Taieri Ridge.
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Big Hut high on the slopes of the Rock and Pillar Range. Once a ski lodge, the hut has been restored and is open to public use.
Photo: Rock and Pillar Trust (www.middlemarch.co.nz/Big Hut) |
Ngapuna Station in 1962
Photo: G.W.Emerson |
Accommodation
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| Off The Trax Self Contained Accommodation |
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