It was a chilly morning, especially as Bob had stolen 90% of the duvet but after a cup of tea and a bowl of the NZ version of shredded wheats we tootled off to the start of the walk up to the Pororani river.

Upon leaving the Enema Bob resisted the opportunity to pat the ponies we passed and after crossing a very bouncy swing (suspension) bridge we were soon climbing through dense bushland in the mist. Enveloped by bird song and under a dense leafy canopy, the trail wound up the valley. Delicate Punga leaves all neatly coiled up contrasted starkly with the huge trunks of fallen trees which had succumbed to a mighty storm the previous Easter. After an hour or so we started to descend and came across another wide, slow river with an equally exciting swing bridge which had to be bounced on before we followed the river down its deep gorge to the sea. During our walk back along the seafront we stumbled across the Punakaiki cavern which we investigated by the light of an iPhone and the dark caves brought back some amazing Madagascan memories.

Leaving Bob at the I-site to watch Japanese tourists I retrieved the Enema and we started South. Greymouth was a complete non-event, not even warranting a coffee stop, so we trundled on down to Hokitika where there were some cool driftwood beach sculptures. It is also the home of NZ jade mining and fashioning, though the style did not appeal to Bob, and fortunately we were a week too early for the wild foods festival which saw the consumption of all sorts of creatures which shouldn't appear on any menu. Their t-shirt slogan was quite entertaining though:
Vegetarian = Kiwi for piss poor hunter.

We continued along the coast road, passing through Fergusons Bush and crossing numerous cobalt blue tumbling meltwater rivers on their way to the sea. Our first intended campsite (MacDonalds Farm) was cheap, $3 per person, and for this you got a small section of hard shoulder next to a mosquito ridden lake, no showers and a single composting toilet to share with the local fishing community who were numerous and didn't appear to welcome strangers. We drove on and took a chance heading the 13km out on the small winding coast road to the swamp town of Okarito.

Okarito actually turned out to be a little slice of paradise, a sleepy little fishing village on the coast, bordering a huge wetland stuffed with white herons and other waterfowl. They also had their own strain of kiwi, a very quaint array of holiday homes, one of which was suspended over the ultimate man-shed containing a quad, power boat and a helicopter...

After crossing the 'landing strip' we took a tour of the beach and learned about the great blue whale stranding of 1908, the skeleton of which is in Canterbury museum, before returning for tea and toffee pops in the sunshine allowing Bob to read and me to write this.

It's as I write this that I may have found the only downside to this beautifully backward spot. In one of my more Irrational attempts to swat yet another mosquito wandering across the screen of my iPhone I managed to delete my draft of today's musings up until the unsatisfactory campsite... AARRGGHH!!!!

About 20 splatted Mosquitos later I was back to square one and decided to take my frustration out by going for a little jog. I found a path and followed it across the duckboards over the wetlands then into the beautifully cool bush. Then I started to climb, and climb and climb some more. Determined not to stop I kept on chugging up the winding path through the dense foliage and finally collapsed onto a boarded viewing gallery overlooking the entire wetlands at Okarito trig. With the sun low in the sky it was spectacular, so I took a panorama, did some circuits and then descended significantly quicker than I had ascended! What a find!

Supper was constructed on a picnic bench, having cleaned up the hoisin explosion in the chilly-bin. Lamb's leg steaks with minted yoghurt accompanied by fried courgette and aubergine, Moroccan cous cous and salad, all eaten as the sky exploded into the pinks and oranges of the sun setting out to sea. There was major upset in the washing up department as this community campsite did not had hot water for washing up...

Bed was preceded by a cup of tea and a hot chocolate as we watched the night sky emerge, picking out an upside down Orion's belt and a shooting star. What an afternoon, thank goodness we didn't stop at old macdonalds!