Rural Women New Zealand: Hitch up dem wagons!

19 January 2007

Hitch up dem wagons! Amazing South Island photo opportunities

Come rain or shine 22 members of the Southern Wagons Horse Power group will leave Bluff tomorrow for a journey that will lead them through the heart of the South Island, eventually arriving in Picton in six to eight weeks time.

Rural Women New Zealand has lent its support to the group, providing overnight stops at several farms en route for the six wagons, the teams of horses and support vehicles. However more friendly farmers will be asked to make paddocks available as the cavalcade wends its way north.

The wagon train has been organized by Ellwin Cowie of Milton Otago and Peter Robson of Winton Southland, who were inspired to make the epic journey after meeting other wagon enthusiasts at the annual Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust Cavalcades.

“It will be a spectacular sight including covered ‘wild west’ style wagons and even a stage coach, drawn by teams of up to six horses,” says Ellwin Cowie.

Ellwin Cowie says the group will be raising funds for the Lion Foundation Rescue Helicopter, taking bucket collections and selling t-shirts at towns along the trail. “I would like to raise $50,000,” she says.

Two children will be riding the whole way from Bluff to Picton with the wagon train - Jacob Cowie (6) and Zachary Cowie (4), with others joining for short rides along the way.

The exact route and timing will depend on the fitness of the horses and the weather conditions, but the plan is to pass through Invercargill, Gore, Raes Junction, Millers Flat, Alexandra, Naesby, Kurow, Waimate, Cave, Pleasant Point, Geraldine, Mayfield, Mt Somers, Rakaia, Darfield, Oxford, Rangiora, Lake Sumner, Hamner and then Rainbow or Molesworth, Renwick and Picton.

ENDS

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