Taking it Easy at the Lakes

Saturday 18 October

With one eye on the weather apps and another on the scudding clouds, we decided to take things a little easier and set out mid-morning to walk around the peninsula on a rather monochromatic day - following in our footsteps from our visit in January. The path was largely empty - maybe 3-4 walkers came our way - and we paused frequently to try & spot the Tui & bell birds we could hear chattering around us. I found a rock and tried to recreate the famous Little Mermaid pose from Copenhagen, but somehow the blue & white stripy top did not quite cut it! The lizard monitoring container on the road down into town at the end of the track was something new - I'd love to know what kind of lizards they have here.

Dropped into the DOC centre on the way back to play the bird sound we’d found whilst our kiwi hunting the night before - turned out to be a Ruru, a Morepork owl, making a trilling sound. I now have a new birding app to help us identify who we see and hear - love learning about nature!

Outside the DOC centre were three pieces of interest -

• a large rock with apparent folds and wrinkles like elephant skin

• a sad memorial to young hikers lost on the mountain ranges over the last decade or two

• a Māori carved pole - this pou depicts the Māori chief and explorer Rākaihautū. Legend tells of Rākaihautū digging enormous holes in the South Island with his kō (digging stick). These then filled with water, forming lakes such as Rotoroa and Rotoiti. He then filled these with kai (food) – eels, freshwater mussels and waterfowl.

After lunch and another mallard visitation, Louis worked on some music and I got a bunch of laundry done (great facilities for a DOC camp) before we set out on a lakeside stroll to the east of Kerr Bay, until the path got too soggy and we turned back.

Cooked curry for dinner in the kitchen and chatted to some fellow campers. Final task for the day was tag-team showering at the facilities - saving money by using one $2 worth of hot water between the two of us! Happy to have clean hair & no more 80s shaggy perm!!!