We started the slowly by not getting out till around eleven by the time we phoned Sarah etc. Sky is a mixture of blue with white clouds but very warm and windy. Drove into Wanaka a really nice little town for an egg and bacon breakfast (Dave) at a small cafe before deciding where to go. Wanaka is in one of the most beautiful settings we have seen, so beautiful it makes your heart ache with the bright blue lake surrounded on all sides by steep, high and strikingly coloured mountains of different shapes and textures.

In the end we decided to travel to Glendhu Bay on a fairly small side road that in the end would peter out into the mountains. What an inspired choice! This has to be one of the most beautiful spots we have ever been to. We couldn't get more than a mile at a time before saying 'oh we have to get out and get a picture of that', 'we have to get oooh we have to have a shot of that'. We did get out for a short walk by the bay as Shirl is still suffering from 'Glacier blisters' and can't get any shoes on, and we spent half an hour just sitting looking at the scenery and listening to the waves lap at the shore. No 1noise, no people, nothing but stunning scenery, absolute heaven. Also had a drive around Lake Hawea which is just as beautiful.

It's been a bad day for birds here. First we watched the site's domestic cat eat a small bird it had caught (ate everything except the beak). Then a thrush managed to miss our van but collided with another van coming in the opposite direction, and then we watched a buzzard (or something as big) carry off a bird in its claws across the fields for its tea.

Signs seen today: Road warning - 'Drink, Drive - DIE'. On a Campervan - 'Adventure before Dementia' and would you like to live on 'Flora Dora Parade' in Lake Hawea?! Also gave a note to self after nearly getting stuck in a layby with a beach at Lake Hawea - 'a campervan is not an off road vehicle'!

Off to Queenstown tomorrow and have a few things booked to do in the coming week. More of that later.