Today we left Wanaka after a lovely few days. After breakfast we went down to the Lake at the end of the road near our campsite, and had a walk along, taking photos. It was a lovely day so we got some good shots. We then drove into town to use the internet and stock up on food in the supermarket.

The plan for the day was to drive to Haast, crossing the Southern Alps at Haast Pass. The drive wasn't as bad as we feared, and as there is no snow left, it was all open and easy to drive. We made a few stops along the way, to see some waterfalls at the side of the road, and ate lunch at a pic nic spot overlooking Lake Hawea (some more good photos!).

By the time we arrived at Haast in the late afternoon, we were both tired, so we parked at a pic nic spot for a nap! We were going to cook our tea there but there were loads of sandflies around, so we drove back out of town and parked at the roadside to cook (first time cooking at the roadside!). We'd pushed the boat out that day and made an amazing meal of steak, rice and salad. Best meal we'd had for ages!

After tea, we drove into Haast and parked up at the (only) pub, called 'The Hard Antler', to watch the second RWC semi-final - All Blacks v Australia. It was already busy when we arrived, an hour before kick-off, but we managed to get a table. As expected, the AB's wone quite convincingly, and go on to face France in the final next week.

After the game, we drove 40km North to a DOC site for the night. It was a bit scary driving the steep, windy roads in the dark, being the only vehicle on the road (main beam on all the way!), but we managed, and even managed to avoid a possum sat in the middle of the road and startled by our lights! We parked up in the campsite and went straight to sleep - makes a change from being sat in the van with hours to kill!