Cardrona is a handful of buildings in a bare valley below the Crown Range, and it is one of the best-preserved relics of the Otago gold rush. In the 1860s the valley held thousands of people, with stores, hotels, a school and a brewery, all of them chasing gold in the river gravels. The rush faded, the crowds left, and the town shrank to almost nothing. What remains is the Cardrona Hotel, a white wooden building with a verandah that has stood since 1863 and still serves meals and drinks, along with a few old buildings and the remains of the diggings. The place has the unmistakable feel of a ghost town that has been revived, and the hotel's open fire is welcome on a cold day.
A short way along the road is the famous Bra Fence, a roadside wire fence hung with hundreds of bras, which began as a prank in the late 1990s and has grown into a curious roadside attraction. Whatever you think of it, it is a conversation starter. Nearby are a distillery that offers tastings, and the Cardrona Alpine Resort, one of the main ski fields of the region, which draws thousands of skiers and snowboarders from June to October.
The road here is part of the Crown Range route, and the ride down from the summit into Cardrona is superb. The road descends in long, flowing bends with wide views over the valley, the surface is good, and the traffic is light outside the ski season. In winter the road can be icy, and ski traffic is heavy at weekends, with cars towing trailers and tourist coaches. The weather can change quickly, and wind and cold are common even in summer.
The valley is dry and tawny, covered in tussock and scattered with schist rock, and the light is clear and sharp. Fuel is not available in Cardrona. The nearest places are Wanaka, to the north, with all the services a rider could want, and Queenstown, to the south, and it is wise to start with a full tank. The hotel serves a good meal, and the coffee at the roadside is welcome. If you have time, stop at the old cemetery and read the headstones, a reminder of the hard life of the miners.