15 December - Stopped at Riverton on the way to Te Anau, the weather had improved dramatically and we were back in T shirts. Riverton was quiet but had a beautiful shallow beach, we were thinking of staying because it was that nice. Fortunately, we decided to move on to Te Anau, the journey took about 1 1/2 hours and I did not overtake another vehicle or see one in the rear view mirror. We pitched the tent in record time and decided to go for a walk into town to explore.

16-December- Chris suggested we walked round the lake (silly mare didn't realise it had a 300 mile shoreline), needless to say we didn't do that! Instead we walked a small part of the lake which took about 4 hours. On the way we visited the wildlife sanctuary and saw the Takahe bird which was thought to be extinct until 1948 when it was rediscovered( there are only 250 left in NZ).

17 December - Went to Rainbow Reach across the suspension bridge and walked a very small part of the Keplar Trail. This is a walk that the really serious hikers do - it takes about 4 days to complete and you have to stay in mountain huts along the way. Went into Manapouri - there was also a lovely lake there although the weather didn't really do it justice as it was a bit showery.\

19 December -Went to Manapouri to see the lake in good weather. Travelled back along the Milford Road to see places that we had missed. Pulled into Walker Creek where I tried to cross the stream. I got across OK but ended up in it on my way back (captured on camcorder by Pat, much to his delight). Walked around Mistletoe Lake which again was very pretty.