Frost, Sunshine and a bit of a Lottery...

Wednesday 10 June

Fortunately we turned the water pump off and drained all the pipes as it was already getting frosty before we went to bed… we woke with cold noses and a heavy, sparkly white frost on the ground outside.

No prizes for guessing who was waiting at our door when we finally emerged, blinking in the bright winter sun and under several layers of winter clothing… wee Django who said “about time too!” and led us on a walk around the wilder parts of the property! It was so chilly that there was still a heavy frost in all the shady areas, untouched by the sun even though it was almost 11am.

We did a spot of googling and messaged Debbie for walking recommendations - all the stuff on Mt Lyford required booking and an access fee which was not ideal as we are on a bit of a budget, particularly with fuel prices being high still. So we set off to explore the Lottery Bush track which Debbie had suggested - it started just a couple of kms down the road.

Seems to be quite a new track with little info online, and it was a tad more challenging than expected, starting with a crossing of the Wandle River (no bridge just random stepping stones) then following a narrow, winding path up through the bush (which was a bit collapsible in places and quite slippery) until we hit open ground… except we missed an orange triangle and got ourselves lost in the scrubby mānuka bush for about 15-20 minutes and only refound the trail by some judicious map studying 🗺️ The view from the open area was quite impressive - the hill opposite had an incredible long escarpment running along below the summit. All in all we covered about 1.2kms in about 45 minutes but decided to turn back and not climb any higher as it was getting near lunch time 🙄 We reckon it’s called Lottery Bush as it’s a lottery whether you make it out alive! 🤣

Had lunch in the sun back at Terako Downs, and discovered the funkiest long drop of them all around the back of the barn - all vibrant pink and circus tent stripy wallpaper! Then at some point in the afternoon another camper arrived. We met Lauren in the barn at dinner time - a young Dutch woman on a working holiday in NZ, just enjoying travelling the back roads & heading to Kaikōura for some whale watching.

Had a lovely chat with her, sharing travel tales before retiring to Banjo and once again, switching off the water & draining pipes as the temperatures dropped under the clear, starry skies. 🌌