Hapuku River

I literally stopped in the middle of a one lane bridge to take this photo.  There was no stopping place either side of the bridge, and no traffic coming so a quick stop, point, click, drive on.  The Hapuku is a New Zealand fish - they can weight up to 100lbs.  I'm not sure why this river is named the same as the fish.

On the far right of the photo the structures above the river are whitebait stands.  During whitebait season they are lowered down to river for the whitebaiters to stand on to wield their nets.  They are each privately owned I believe.  These are far more sophisticated than the whitebait stands we used 40 years ago!

Today my brother and I went our separate ways; he headed back north towards Nelson, I headed further south on a mission to drive as far south as you can down the West Coast.  Jackson Bay is the end point, and I'd never been there before.  It is such a beautiful drive through bush and along some amazing coast line!  I got there about 10am but the cafe there, which is world famous for its fish and chips, didn't open until 11am so Azzy and I went for a walk out on the jetty and then along the beach.  Clocked up our 10,000 steps before lunch.  The 'extra' photo is of Jackson Bay.

Mission accomplished, I headed back to Haast.  I had initially planned to head over towards the East Coast from there but I am loving driving through the West Coast bush so much that I headed back up the coast.  After stops at Lake Moeraki and Lake Paringa for short walks, I've ended up in Fox Glacier for the night.  After 3 nights of freedom camping I was keen for a 'real' shower so am staying at a camp ground.  The shower was bliss!

Back blipped yesterday as I was camped off the grid last night.