Today we left the sea and headed for the Southern Alps.  

We passed the quarry where they obtained the limestone for the buildings of Oamaru. We went through a farming area where everything was very green due to irrigation, as NZ is in a drought. We passed sheep, dairy and deer farms, lots of orchards and a few vineyards. We saw one black sheep and wondered if he felt like "One in a Million."

We entered the Waitaki Valley and flowed along the Waitaki River. We are also following the "Vanished World Trail," which is an area rich in geology and fossils. We stopped to see the Takiroa Maori Rock Drawings. The drawings were discovered in the 1800s by early European explorers. They may date back to the moa-hunting period (1000 – 1500 AD). They were done in red ochre and charcoal and are thought to represent animals and people. 

We came to the town of Kurow, which means a thousand mists, due to nearby Mt Bitterness often being covered by fog.

Then we came to a series of hydroelectric dams along the Waitaki River. The first one, the Waitaki Power Station, is the oldest of eight hydroelectric stations on the river. It took six years to build as 560,000 cubic meters of material had to be excavated using pick and shovel. Three lakes, Tekapo, Pukaki and Ohau pass through the series of power stations. A 17 ton turbine was on display; it was one of three that drove the generators at this power station.

The next power station along the river also has a 1 km long tunnel for trout to use to travel to an area for spawning.

This road is very popular for motorcyclists perhaps because it is relatively straight. They seem to think they are Burt Munro on the Utah Salt Flats.

Between the dams are huge lakes that are very popular for motorboating, sailing, fishing and camping. We camped in Omarama, which is a town Bob described as poke and plum – poke your head out the window and you're plum out of town. However, the campground is full as this is obviously a country getaway place for people from the cities on weekends and holidays.

Omarama has a world-wide reputation for gliding due to the area's north-west thermals. The World Championships were once held here. We saw some gliders being towed up in the sky; it reminded us of the cadets at the AFA.