Lakes, Mountains & Swing Bridges
Trip Start
Jun 11, 2008
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151
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Trip End
May 14, 2009
Makarora, South Island, New Zealand
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
On the way we stopped off at Lake Matheson which is also known as the mirror lake. From here you can get a photo of the lake with a perfect reflection of the mountains in it. It was a little windy today so the lake wasn't really still enough but there was still some great views.
Next we had a break at Knights Point where there were magnificent views over the bays of the west coast. With it being a beautiful day again, we got some great photos.
There was then a short stay at Thunder Creek Falls which was a 30 metre tall waterfall down the mountainside. Pretty cool.
There was then a trip across the Haarst Bridge. We got off the bus and walked across it for a bit of fun. It's just a bridge really, but there were some good views down to the rocks & river below.
Final visit before arriving in Makarora was at Blue Pools. To get to the pools we had to walk across a rickety old swing bridge. There was a maximum of 5 people a time allowed on the bridge in case it collapsed! Apparently it did recently when 20 people were on it. Funny thing is they seem to have repaired the bridge with just some blummin' duct tape!! Confidence was not high during this crossing. Although I didn't really help things by jumping up and down on it when people were crossing!
When we did make it across we were greeted by some amazing blue waters. We decided to do some stone skimming across the lakes whilst we were here. It was a very enjoyable chill out session. Trouble was, we had to go back over the swing bridge - squeaky bum time again!
Finally we made it to Makarora Wilderness Lodge, which is in the middle of nowhere, but had some fantastic views from our dorm chalets. The sky was clear and as the night moved in I have got to say I have never seen so many stars in the sky! It was absolutely full - it's just a shame you can't really get a photo at night.
In the evening we all went down to the onsite bar for a few beers.......and then karaoke!! Me & Lorna were first up and sang Paradise by the Dashboard Light - we got a free drink because we were up first, which is why we did it. Later on, all the lads did YMCA and all the gals did Mama Mia. At the end we all got up and did You're The One That I Want. It was a fun night all round.
