Thursday 21 February

Puponga, Cape Farewell
How good can it get! Another fabulous day. We have just completed a 12 km walk around as much of Farewell Spit as has public access, the rest is a protected bird breeding sanctuary. We walked out one way on the estuary side, past mud flats with lots of wading birds, then through some spectacular dunes to the exposed Ocean side. The tide was low and there was miles and miles of beautiful golden sand, interspersed by large areas of water. We walked back along hard sand, the waves lapping the shore and the blue sea beyond.
We left Totaranui early this morning, very wet. It didn't rain but the overnight dew was so great that the side awning which we had left up had a puddle in it. We managed to bundle everything onto the car, keeping the wet stuff away from our clothes and bedding. We just didn't expect it to be so damp and as well as the awning had left table and chairs out.
We have driven further up the coast, back over the perilous road and then to the most northerly point of the South Island, Cape Farewell. We have checked into a small campsite, it looks as is it used to be a back garden. We took a look at the larger Holiday Park, but decided it was not for us, too many Motor Homes.
Tomorrow we are headed for Nelson and a Holiday Park before setting off to the Marlborough Sounds (fiords) for our last three nights before heading back to the North Island. Those last three nights will be on simple DoC sites down tracks in parts of the fiord system so we will stop off on Nelson for shopping and a hot shower first.