It was another rainy night and the temperature in Mabel was definitely cooler.  We had the alarm set for 7.45 and boy was it freezing when we climbed down out of our bed but the skies were clear and we could see the top of the mountains. 

After our breakfast of cereal and toast we were off to refuel Mabel and our first stop a tramp at Fox to see the glacier (again from a distance).  Although only 8 degrees at the start, it was a lovely 4 mile walk through alpine forest, it was like walking through an area time had forgot, so much moss and ferns. 

Next stop Bruce Bay Coffee Cart at Maori Beach, the ocean looked amazing so ferocious. We had all good intentions of sitting there admiring the views with a coffee but couldn’t resist a hot dog and ice cream instead.

Onto Lake Paringa for a lunch stop, having just stopped in the Salmon cafe where we grabbed some smoked salmon (lunch tomorrow) that is all farmed and prepped on site. Paringa is one of the most picturesque lakes so far. 

We then drove past Lake Moeraki and caught a bloke skinny dipping, so we didn’t stay there too long! We then decided to do a little walk down to Beach Monroe but didn’t realize it would take an hour and half so we ran it instead in 45 mins. Most of the run was through a coastal forest which came out right on the beach, another amazing view of the most powerful crashing waves. Oh and I found out I can’t run on a swing bridge definitely not behind someone else who was also running it made me feel yuk! 

Back in Mabel and a quick stop for photos at Knights Point and onto Ship Creek where we did a walk around the dunes, lake and swamp, absolutely breathtaking and now we were completely windswept as well. It’s unreal how the forests extend right down to the beaches.

We continued to Haast and had a pint in the Hard Antler, having stocked up on a few supplies.  Then our last few stops, Depot Creek Falls, no signage found this one on Google, an absolutely fantastic waterfall and then a last few stops to take in the views along the River Haast and we were at our campsite for the night.

This one is very basic, only toilets available so we settled in for the night and Dave cooked sausage and pasta in a sauce, washed down with beer and we checked the itinerary for tomorrow and I thrashed him at Yahtzee!

Total distance 172 km ( 107 miles)