The mainly straight road took us away from the mountains and towards the plain. We were going to do a couple of kms of the Mount Somers Track to Shaplin Falls … but our plans fell through. Instead, I was able to take a photo of a pukeko or swamp hen, an almost flightless bird that we saw far more of on the North island but didn’t get round to snapping … then we saw no more till today!
Since its a bit of a slow news day so far, another thing to share is a selection of signs which struck us as very local!
Arriving in Rakaia Gorge at lunchtime, we checked into the lovely little campsite overlooking the river, no power but hot showers and ‘take your time in the morning, no hurry to leave’!
Following the path, we walked down to the gravel shore of the river to wait for Blair from Discovery Jet who we had arranged to take us up the gorge in a jetboat. We had to give this iconic NZ invention a go, powered by a jet of water taken in and squirted out the back and able to function in 10cm of water, ideal for shallow river beds. Apparently during heavy rainfall though, the river can fill completely, covering all the gravel areas. He took us to the top of the gorge, stopping a couple of times for photos. It was great fun and exhilarating, but not in the thrills and spills category, which suited us just fine.
He dropped us off halfway up the gorge and we walked back on the footpath to the campsite, which gave us a succession of views of the gorge from above. Really pleased to have done this as we wanted our Camper Caper to end on a high but weren’t willing to chance the bungy jump!
Tomorrow we drive to Christchurch and return our campervan …
Off Travelling Together 