Haast to Hawea

Sunday 9 November

From one favourite place to camp to another - we packed up under attack from some particularly attentive sandflies and after a 7 point turn to get out of our space without clipping a camper van, we hit SH6 heading south to Lakes Wānaka and Hāwea. The road tracks down the eastern edge of the top of Lake Wānaka, then crosses at a small pass to the western edge of Lake Hāwea - stunning!

Too early for check-in so we parked up in Wānaka out on the back roads and Louis had a swim at the best recreation centre down south, while I did a ton of laundry at Liquid Laundromat, watched a local petanque match and managed to sort a warranty exchange for my broken hiking shoes (thank you Katy at MW Rotorua and Iris at MW Wānaka). Restocked our fridge & pantry at New World then back to The Camp to set up under the trees, surrounded by birdsong and with a glimpse of the glorious Lake Hāwea, sparkling in the sunshine. We were unable to sneak into our favourite spot by the water's edge as they were reseeding this space - but we were still able to get a lovely lake view from our spot under the trees. By now the sun was blasting and the sky was blue as could be, offsetting the glorious turquoise/teal waters of the lake. The yellow lupin bushes around the pathway down to the rocky beach were exuding the most exquisite scent as well as counterpointing the blues of the lake and sky.

Chilled out because that’s The Camp vibe - dinner in Banjo, strolls to the Lake to watch the light change, booked in a Christmas Eve wedding in Christchurch, then enjoyed a couple of episodes of the excellent Riot Women before bed.