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| North Lake Mavora |
Leaving
Queenstown, restocked and clean clothes once again, we headed southward to Kingston
as hail and sleet blew in – but we did have a lovely lunch at the Kingston
Café. Very cosy with the fire going.
It’s been revived once again, and they will be hoping for the Kingston Flyer to
get up and running this summer to bring in the tourists.
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| Tough old roads of the past to Kingston from Queenstown |
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| Two jacket day to ride the Lake 2 Lake Cycle Trail |
Onto Te Anau
through more sleety showers and sunshine arriving at the NZMCA Camp just on the
outskirt of town – the snow was certainly down low.
The next
morning with the squally showers having passed over, we decided to cycle the
Lake 2 Lake Cycle Trail – Te Anau to Manapouri. When one first reads the trail notes on the
Great Rides App (an excellent App by the way) it shows 23.5km 2 to 4 hrs one way
– easily managed on our E Bikes! But one should read all the notes!!
Anyway off
we headed. It was a pretty cool morning – a two jacket morning. By the time we reached the end of the trail at
18.5km and were still a wee way from Manapouri, I started to think I may have
misread some of the information!! It had talked about 4km on road – which would
take us to 22.5km……. but that was still a wee bit down the road from Manapouri.
Anyway…… by this time quite hungry and
starting to think this was going to be a bigger day than planned – we finally
rode into Manapouri after 31km!! Thankfully we do have E Bikes and hoped we had
enough power for the return ride as it was quite an undulating gravel trail.
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| Almost there Bill. Just another few kms!! 😓 |
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| Reflections on moody Lake Manapouri |
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| Manapouri's Marina hub |
After a disappointing
but filling lunch (blame Bill for this as next door looked better but more
expensive to Bill) we did a quick ride around Manapouri which had a moody
sombre look, so typical of these southern sounds, just like our previous visits here. We headed
back to our camp, thankfully with just enough power and energy but very sore
butts after our 62km 5 hr ride! Enjoyed
a well-deserved beer at the end as we sat in the sun before the clouds moved in
once again.
With the
weather forecast for snow down low and more rain, we had another day in Te Anau
catching up on a bit of work online while we had coverage before heading into
the Mavora Lakes.
We had a
walk into town and around the village which was pretty quiet, especially for
school holidays but as we knew from previous visits here, it is busy early
mornings and evening with all the tour buses/groups heading in & out and
returning from Milford Sounds/ lake trips and walks in the area. It is a beautiful
landscape, with the majestic mountains surrounding the area but you do take
your chances with the weather and of course the sandflies.
Bill
purchased a fishing licence for the coming year (starting 1st
October) so we are good now for him to catch a lovely big trout or salmon in
these southern lakes / rivers. Though one thinks this could be 1 expensive fish 😉
Packing up
the next morning, restocking food, we
headed off into Lake Mavora which we have visited twice before – a lovely Doc
camp spread out the valley up the side of the two lakes (North & Southern
Lake Mavora). We thought being school holidays there would be a few campers in
here, but guess it is still a bit cool for families. A bit of hail and sleet met
us on arrival but with our fantastic diesel heater (have I mentioned before how
fantastic it has been 👍) it wasn’t a problem. We woke up the next morning to -1.6
degrees inside and -3.4 outside, thank goodness we had the heater. Our windows had frosted inside for the 3rd time this winter.
Once the sun
finally popped up over the mountains after 9.30am we got up and readied
ourselves for a paddle up the lake. Paddle (ie try out the motor on Bill’s
new frame that fits onto the back of the kayak). Bill tried trawling as we
cruised up the lake – very scenic with the reflections of the mountains on the
lake making it difficult at times to see where one started and one finished,
the reflections being so perfect.
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| Our beautiful camp site at Lake Mavoura |
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| Bill just waiting on that Trout 🐟 |
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| A lovely evening at Lake Mavora |
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| Heading off on a blustery walk to Southern Lake Mavora |
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| The swing bridge swinging in the wind with Sheryl (Not stopping for a photo) |
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| Trying his luck on Lake Wakatipu |
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| The 45th Parallel South Walkway - Lake Dunstan (Bit different to 18mths ago in brilliant sunshine) |
We finished
the day off sitting around a camp fire (Bill had been wanting to have one all
winter but with fire bans everywhere we haven’t been able to except here! He
finally had his chance). And our fellow campers Aussie’s Graeme & Sharn, had the pit all
set up. Bill was out with his tomahawk to get some larger bits to give the fire
a heart. It was a lovely evening to finish off another great day.
The next
morning was a bit different with the wind gusting down the lake, certainly not
a day for a paddle but maybe a walk. So we headed off down the far side off the
lake toward South Lake Mavora. But once I had crossed over the swinging swing
bridge I realised just how strong the wind was, and being a bit cautious with
falling limbs in these beech forests, I headed back to camp and left Bill to
fossick on. Although very windy, it was very sunny, so at least I could bake a
loaf of bread in the bread maker. And bake biscuits. The cupboards were
replenished.
With work
requiring some action and the washing piling up, it was time to head out of the
lovely Mavora Lakes once again. It certainly has a relaxed feeling in here
surrounded by soaring mountains either side of the lakes. But the weather can
be quite changeable and this morning with rain settled in for the day, it was
time to move on, and return to Lumsden. Bill stayed on a bit longer while I
drove the car out for reception, for him to have another go at catching a
trout. But still no luck!
The rain
kept up all day so we left the washing till the next day where we could use the
washing machine at the Lumsden Camp next door to the NZMCA camp. Last time I
visited the camp, the Guy just held out his hand for the money, this time round
the camp looks much tidier, huge trees have been removed opening up the camp.
It looks so much better, more inviting.
And the washing machines, just the same but this time with a money slot
box attached. Hopefully the camp will have a good summer season as someone has
been working hard around the place. It is a classic Kiwi Camp which are getting
scarcer around the country as they struggle to keep open. They were charging $12/night per person with
use of unlimited showers and toilets. So compared to Doc now charging up at
Kinloch $15/night with only a long drop, it seems good value. Not that any of
this bothers us these days with all our amenities on board but I like to think
families can still afford to go camping. We had so many lovely camping holidays
as our kids grew up.
With the
weather predicted to stay wet for the next few days, we decided to head on up
toward Twizel and the canals for Bill to try his luck fishing up there. With
just over a week before we have to be back up in Christchurch, we will head off
and see if it is any drier up in the MacKenzie Country and the fish are more keen to
jump on Bill’s hook.🐟
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