We stopped at a DOC site quite a long way into the woods. It was crowded, and we ended up picking up some rubbish (take those Tui bottles with you, guys!). The lake itself is very beautiful; this picture taken 20 minutes walk along a bush track from the site only hints at it.
It had a major drawback. Sandflies. This was Sarah's first encounter with these beasties, and they have become a running theme. At the time of writing this (5 days later), her legs have several red blotches which refuse to fade, and the flies are adding to the collection on a regular basis. We are experimenting with a wide variety of insecticides, and today succumbed (for the first time) to one containing the dreaded deet. We shall see,
The other big excitement at Lake Monowai was being awoken by an EARTHQUAKE! 0800, and the van starts shaking. In Britain, maybe a large dog, even a very brave stag. In America, the terror of a bear. But in New Zealand? Pip was insouciant in the face of Sarah's alarm. 'Nothing we can do,' she said, yawning.
It was so silent; all the earthquakes you normally hear about (if you come from the stability of Europe) are noisy affairs, the ground rumbling and crashing, which houses fall down. At the very least the china rattles. This time, there was no sound at all, just the juddering feeling in the van.