One of the many good things about retirement is that you can make a spur of the moment decision to go see a place you have not been before. With the power company advising us that the power would be off from 9am to 4pm the next day, we quickly mapped out a trip away in the BT-50 with Mount White Station as the destination.
Throwing together a picnic lunch and a big thermos of hot water, I put the camp stools into the back of the truck and we set off from Geraldine about 8:30am for Arthurs Pass.
We headed up Highway 72 to Darfield Bakery where we picked up the best mince pie and raspberry bun for me and a gluten-free steak and cheese pie and blueberry muffin for Rae. Next stop was on the side of the road at Sheffield for smoko off the tailgate with the pies and takeaway coffees now just at the right temperature.
Porters Pass was bare of the snow that came through la week before, the country was looking very dry, and Lake Lyndon was looking well down on its normal level.
The car park at Castle Hill was nearly full of camper vans and cars with a stream of tourists heading across to view the Limestone Tors. There were also quite a few cars at the Cave Stream Scenic Reserve where you can visit the caves and go blackwater swimming/rafting if that is what turns you on (not me, I am strictly an above ground person).
It is about 38km from Lake Lyndon to where you turn off into Mount White Road and about 900m to where you cross over the Trans Alpine Railway before going across the Mount White Bridge. From here you travel down the valley following the Waimakariri River which at this time of the year does not have a lot of water in it and has many braided parts.
The valley here is quite wide with merino sheep and black beastie cattle grazing in the dry grass. At Andrews Shelter there is a shelter for hikers and a long drop dunny nestled in the beech trees. There were also wasps – DOC is running a study in this area to see if they can control wasps by natural means rather than insecticides, perhaps not as successfully as they would like.  
There are several fords on this road but when we went through, they were mostly dry except for one which hardly wet the tyres of the BT-50. Most of these are flood water channels with lots of gravel above and below the road, not a place to be after heavy rain. After about 20km you come to the saddle above the confluence of the Waimakariri River and the Poulter River with great views of the braided Waimakariri River below. Here we could see just a hint of snow on the very top skyline above Mt White Station.
Above the bridge over the Poulter River, there is a car park for hikers going up the Poulter River Valley and we were surprised to see several camper vans and cars here including a Ranger ute towing a big Swift caravan. I guess you can take rental cars almost anywhere.
The road is gravel and very dusty but was in good condition with few corrugations or rough patches.
At about 25km you come to end of Mount White Road where it enters Mount White Station. On the right is the homestead and off to the left is the Shearers’ Quarters which you can book as accommodation for mountain bike riding and hiking over the station.
Turning around at the station gateway, we travelled back to the saddle near the Poulter River / Waimakariri River confluence and had lunch off the tailgate before heading out to the main road. We stopped at the Cass Railway Station then headed back to Lake Lyndon for afternoon smoko with the Darfield Bakery muffin and raspberry bun and thermos coffee. From here it was down Lyndon Road to Lake Coleridge, Coleridge Road, and Zig Zag Road to the Rakaia Bridge.
Only issue on the whole trip was meeting the local constabulary in a big hurry in his ute on a blind bend on Lyndon Road. Fortunately, I was hugging my side of the road coming to the right-hand bend as he was in the middle of the road and passed before he realised there was other traffic! A great day trip with some great scenery with about 450km covered, home for tea.