Canals and Lakes Galore

Friday 21 February

We woke to a chilly morning and a beautiful sunrise. This canalside setting is so cool!

I met a couple of the campsite dogs - a gorgeous chocolate cocker spaniel and a Jack Russel called Poppy who had definite Mia vibes ❤️

Midmorning we crossed the bridge to visit the salmon farm - great coffee and tea and some amazing sweet treats which we managed to pass on plus assorted salmon based savouries including quiche, benedicts, sushi and fabulously fresh sashimi. There were pnds with salmon in various stages of growth to watch and feed and a shop so we could bring some home with us - nom nom! We sampled the gin cured salmon chunks which were absolutely divine, but sadly rather too expensive! You could pay to fish in the main tank area but it literally was like shooting fish in a barrel… no way you could miss!

I know it was meant to be all about the salmon, but I was very taken with the pāpango ducks - aka NZ Scaup or black teal. Described by NZ Birds Online as "gregarious diving ducks common throughout New Zealand. Compact and blackish, they have the silhouette of a bath-toy duck." these guys were adorable and would suddenly tip downwards and paddle feverishly down through the clear waters until they were too deep for us to see... and then a few minutes later they would pop up again with the buoyancy of a cork in a completely different part of the water!

We packed up mid morning and after a quick trip into Twizel for urgent supplies, headed off to check out Lake Wardell as it had some good recommendations - but it was too densely wooded which affected our solar charging and our Starlink reception so we tootled over to Lake Poaka despite dire warnings about too many naughty freedom campers partying all night there. Turned out just fine!

I had a wee wander around the lake and met a lovely Californian couple who were tiki touring and keen for any personal recommendations of places to visit.

Later in the evening we both took a stroll along the stunningly vibrant Pukaki Canal before dinner at Banjo.

Impressed by the stunning sunset which the Tasman Travel boys had just posted on their feed from Lake Poaka a few nights previously we popped back up to the canal road to see if we would be as lucky this evening, but it was a bit mediocre… we’re getting picky these days!