Lake Mahinapua - Camping

I walked 11km to the campsite today from Hokitika in just over 2 hours which I dont't think is too bad considering I was carrying 22kg on my back. On the walk I was followed by a group of cows on the opposite side of a fence. As I appeared they all locked eyes on me and as I walked on they did too. Never once stopping looking at me.

You enter the campsite through a singletrack road through dense bush that opens out into a clearing and frames the lake between the trees. I've never seen a place so peaceful. There is constant birdsong from all around. The birds here come so close to you that you can hear their wings flapping. I even had a mother bird come up to me with all her chicks as I was sitting outside my tent. It rained overnight but my 1 man tent passed the test!

I met a lovely NZ family from Tauranga in the campsite and helped them with some bike mechanics and in return they gave me dinner and breakfast! Which was great as my dinner was going to be cold baked beans! Carl (the Dad) was in the New Zealand Navy and fought in East Timor. He seems like a genuinely nice guy (spends an hour every 2 weeks donating blood plasma) I don't think I've met anyone as nice as him. He has offered me his brothers house as a place to stay when I'm on the North island. They had some mountain bikes with them also. They weren't very good but I still managed to shred a couple of trails. Jordan (son) told me that I should "try slowing down so I can catch you up" I'm really looking forward to do it properly later on. Jordan also left the key in the ignition then locked the car. So we had to unlock it through a small gap in the window with a piece of wire and my emergency rope (cheers Dad!).

I even found myself a little friend on the jetty!