Millers Flat Tavern

The Tavern sits parallel to a main highway while the blue single-lane bridge crosses the Clutha /Mata-au River to the small settlement of Millers Flat. Built 1926 and formerly called the Bridge Hotel, the building itself is fairly stark but the many colourful flowers and bright touches ensure a warm welcome as do the proprietors. We stopped by on 23 January 2022.

“The quintessential kiwi country pub with a local history theme serving great food and hospitality. We have a wonderful outdoor setting, either under the massive willow tree or on the sheltered deck.” ~from the Tavern’s website. I’ve linked to the About page.. it shows the road frontage in full.

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Click on any photo to enlarge.

Millers Flat Bridge.. opened in 1899 and christened ‘Larnach Bridge’ [after the Dunedin ‘Larnach Castle’ politician bloke]. “This Clutha River bridge is 176.2 metres (m) long with four steel 4.9m high bowstring arch spans. The timber deck is 4.1m wide. The piers comprise of concrete-filled cast iron cylinders which are driven down 9m into the riverbed.” ~from an excellent web page that outlines the story of the bridge in detail.

This route heads home, toward Raes Junction /Tapanui…
and a ‘stream’ of agapanthus flowers.

I took this shot mostly for the v.pretty dahlias.

Now .. on down to the opposite end of the Tavern.

NZ rural icon .. red band gumboots 🙂

The route to Roxburgh and the rest of Central Otago.

Delightful wall inside ~on the way to the loos! Pic by Nigel.

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Text + pics (except last one) by Liz; Exploring Colour (2022)