Lake Hayes …

….. ….. ….. and the beginning of the drought. The north of the North Island is having onslaughts of torrential tropical rainstorms with unprecedented flooding. Down here in Central Otago we’re on the verge of drought, as the golden dry grass in the foreground here shows. It’s actually scary. I saw someone down at lake level with her gas fire, making a cup of coffee. That canister just needed to get knocked over and the grass would catch fire instantly. Yes there are fire prohibitions in place, but she was a tourist and didn’t know. Shouldn’t have been camping there either!

We enjoyed our walk though and met 6 people soon to finish their Te Araroa walk, having started at Cape Reinga. What an amazing achievement, walking from the very top of New Zealand, down to Bluff. (It doesn’t include Stewart Island).