[Manapouri, New Zealand] We left Tuatapere at our usual departure time this morning. Most campsites have a 10am check out so we aim for that but not before frying up some bacon and cheese baps for breakfast. Today was going to be a very light day and thankfully the weather was looking a little more cheerful than yesterday. With our gas bottle refilled we hit the road, the destination for the day being only 80 odd km away. We stopped off at another old suspension bridge near Clifden. This time we could not drive over it (or even walk) – huge concrete blocks and warnings signs indicated it was structurally unsound.

Not far from the bridge are some limestone caves that looked like a lot of fun. They stretch for a few hundred meters and require scrambling, climbing and crawling to access the depths of the unregulated caverns. Unfortunately after 30m of stumbling we realized that our little headlamps with their 8 month old batteries were no match for the inky blackness even after our eyes had adjusted. It would not have been safe to continue with light that barely rivaled our cell phones so we opted out. Such a pity. I love caving. We’ll have to come back someday (with ropes for the ‘expert’ section too).

Disappointed we cruised on to Manapouri and stopped in at the ‘i’ site to book a tour out on Doubtful Sound tomorrow. NZ$265 (R1400) per person! Ouch. That is worse than Norway, oh well, we have come all this way to see the Fiords (spelt the Kiwi way) so why not. Lake Manapouri is the second deepest lake in the country and from our lunch spot on the beach we had stunning views of the fiordland across the water. The overcast conditions yielded occasionally to blue sky and sun beams illuminating the distant mountains – it was a great spot for a sarmie.

We found a small campsite (maybe 10 sites) close to the lakeshore as the rains started once again. Fiordland gets between 5 and 7 METERS of rain each year !! The temperature dropped dramatically and we settled in for a lazy afternoon. V is catching up on some reading while I finally get the blog up to date. It’s been good to have at least a half a day off, we’re both feeling a little road weary. Tomorrow someone else is doing the driving for us. Should be good (at that price it better be).

[Pictures: The suspension bridge at Clifden. V catching up on some reading]

– Posted from my iPhone via 3G