Day 11. Monday 17th November 2003
Wanaka - Haast Beach

Woke up to a much brighter day. Had booked horse riding with a local company, turns out we were their first ever customers.

My horse was big and dark brown, he was called Louie and was a bit frisky at first but was quite lovely when I got used to him. Jeff's horse was really slow and he kept falling behind which was funny as his name was Atomic—anything but. He loved to be stroked and closed his eyes when you rubbed his head. We went up the valley and then right back down to Lake Hawea and tried to get the horses to wade in (not likely). The lake was flanked by wild lupins. It was a lovely trip.

We then picked up a few supplies from Wanaka and headed onwards, North via the West coast. Drove through some of the loveliest countryside yet, green and welcoming. Stopped at Blue Pools on the way to Haast, where the water is green/blue and people had built little stone piles. Stopped at another waterfall called Thunder Creek, and even though we'd seen so many it was still impressive.

Decided we would go as far as Haast Beach today as we won't be seeing a lot of the ocean on this side of NZ. As I write this I am sitting in the back of the van, back doors wide open, and I have my very own beach on the Pacific Ocean, the waters edge being about 150 meters away. It's free camping again tonight—with ocean view.