Woke up around 08:00, discovered that one of the insects we let live took a liking to my ear and I had an itchy red lump. I also had a headache, probably from the beer the night before – I had one beer and have a hangover, my younger self wouldn’t believe it. Left the hotel and got the bus into town, begrudgingly handing over the extortionate fare. We’d popped into a tourism place the night before and booked a lake trip (or trup as it’s called here). Stopped off for my obligatory coffee and waited by the boat. For a while I thought we’d have it to ourselves but then 4 guys with motorbikes turned up and a few tourists as well – still, the boat was basically empty which was surprising. It was also clean and looked new, which I hoped meant unlikely to sink. The crew were really friendly and we had a good chat with the captain who looked about 60 something but he told us he was 73. The weather was overcast and around 20c again and we’d decided against jackets and just wore t shirts and jumpers, which turned out to be a mistake once the boat got moving. Still, it wasn’t too bad if we kept out of the wind, and the sun soon came out. The views were incredible – the lake is surrounded by hills and mountains. The water was flat and the sun was shining on the hills. The boat pottered along pleasantly and we got some good photos which I’ll post at some stage. The trip stopped at the other side of the lake to unload the bikes and a couple of tourists to look at a farm which we decided to skip, I know what sheep look like. Sun still shining, back across the lake, just sitting on the boat looking at the scenery. Arrived back and said goodbye to our new best mate Steve the captain and went to find lunch.
We both felt like a pizza so found a place and had a large half and half – I had Morrocan lamb and Song had seafood. It was good, but not cheap – $39. Prices here are more expensive than I expected, but it is a bit of a tourist trap.
Decided we’d skip dinner but walked around to a supermarket to get some stuff. Parachutists were floating above us, jumping from the top of the hill and landing on a sports field every few minutes. It was still sunny and warm, we were back to t shirts and put sun screen on.
Wandered around the town a bit more, looking in the shops and then decided to head back to the hotel and relax. Despite not really doing much we were both tired, so just crashed.
I’ve now put some photos up, click on the link at right of the page called ‘photos’. Only 3 new ones at the moment.
Tomorrow we’re getting up early to take a coach to Milford Sound. It’s a 5 hour drive there, a cruise and about 4 hours back. I wanted to take a plane or helicopter but Song doesn’t like flying in small planes. So we’re taking the bus.
