Having stayed the night in a cabin packing up this morning was straightforward. By 9:30 we were on our way inland. We had looked at the weather forecast which stated that the region was expecting rain and possible thunder late in the day and overnight. We therefore weren’t too keen on camping anywhere. We’d heard that Nelson Lakes were quite pretty so we decided to visit them on our way to Murchison where we hoped to find shelter.
Our first stop was St Arnaud on Lake Rotoiti. Here was an excellent visitors center with very good information on the geology of the area. The region straddle a fault line and over the millennia mountain ranges have been split apart and separated by many miles. More recently, in the last 10s of thousands of year the area was subject to glaciation which has left its mark in terms of hanging valleys, etc.
We took a small hike up Black Hill before eating lunch by the lake. We then took the Perimeter walk around the peninsular that sticks out into the lake. We then drove off detouring to Lake Rotorua. Here we met our nemesis, the sand flies, which despite the dollops of recently purchased repellent we had lathered over ourselves were still determined to have their lunch.
We therefore didn’t stay long there. Enough to take a few pictures. The drive to Murchison wasn’t too far. From our AA book we knew there were two campsites near to the center of town that had cabins. With the forecast rain we thought it would be worth exploring these first. The first place we visited, Riverview, was pleasant enough and had cabins for $40 a night. They could use a lick of paint but they’re good enough to keep us out of the rain.
It turns out that this weekend this campsite is full of amateur country singers from around the area who get together to jam once a year. They have a stage set up and a marquee against the rain. Friday evening was karaoke night which ended up quite loud. We walked down to the area to see what was going on but didn’t stay too long.
The rain did indeed come down all last night but the skies are now blue again. Today, legs permitting, we have a couple of hikes planned.
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