Nelson to Lake Mahinapua

I left Nelson on the morning of Tuesday 1st May. Our first stop was for a walk in Nelson Lakes National Park. Here we went for a short walk down to Lake Rotoiti. The lake was lovely and had great reflections of the mountains round the lake. Here we had a picnic lunch before heading on.

We then headed to Murchison where we picked up those who had come through from Christchurch. We then headed through the Buller Gorge which is supposed to be stunning but unfortunately the rain and cloud had reappeared. Just before reaching Westport, we stopped at Buller Adventure Tours where we had the chance to go jet boating, horse riding or quad biking. I decided to go horse riding which was great fun. First of all we headed through the bush and then we had some trots and canters along the sand tracks beside the Buller river before walking through the river, back to the yard. I was riding a sweet horse called Leroy. After the riding we headed to our hostel, Basil's Hostel in Westport where we spent the night. We just had a quiet night here as there was not a great deal of things to do and I was shattered.

On Wednesday, we left Basil's and started our journey to Lake Mahinapua. Our first stop on this journey was Cape Foulwind where we went on a half hour walk along the coastline to one of New Zealand's largest seal colonies. This was also New Zealand's closest point to Australia. The walk was gorgeous and thankfully the sun came out for us.

We then headed further along the coast to Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and blowholes. Here we went for another walk to see the rocks which look like stacks of pancakes. Unfortunately the blowholes were not blowing though but the walk was lovely. After the walk we went to the cafe and I tried their famous pancakes - they were great.

We then headed through the rain to Greymouth where we picked up others who had taken the train from Christchurch. Also we were dropped off at Warehouse and the supermarket to buy our food for the next few days and to buy a fancy dress outfit for the party later on that night. We were told we had an hour here but 2.5hours after we were supposed to be picked up, the bus driver appeared back. He had gone to get parts of the bus checked and fixed at the garage and had we had not been given details on what the story was, instead we were left standing outside the supermarket all this time. At this point I can't say I was too impressed with Kiwi Experience! Once eventually getting picked up, we went onto Lake Mahinapua Hotel. This was our stop for the night.

After having a meal cooked for us by our guide, it was time to get ready for the Poo Party. Our theme for the party was to dress up with anything beginning with a 'p'. Emma, Antonia and I went as the Pink Ladies from Grease. It was a good night and there were some really interesting outfits.

On Thursday morning Frank, Emma, Antonia, Oliver and myself all got up at 8am and headed down to see Lake Mahinapua. It was a perfectly clear day, not a cloud in the sky and the lake was stunning. There were mountains with snow on the top in the back ground. Once back from the lake it was time to jump on the bus to our next destination.