Thursday 31 January

Rotoiti Lake, close to St Arnaud, Nelson Lakes National Park
We crossed the Cook Straits today, a three hour ferry crossing. Already the South Island is feeling different, much more rural and more sparsely populated. After leaving Picton, where we disembarked from the ferry, we drove almost due west for about two hours. The sheep definitely outnumbered the people we saw, probably by a factor of more than 100 to 1. At first the road was flanked on both sides by vineyard after vineyard, with neat cordoned vines. We wound our way round bends and up hill to a height of about 800 metres until we reached a place called St Arnaud where we followed the signs to the DoC campsite called West Bay between Lake Rotoiti and the Bullet River. Once again it is a lovely situation, clearings amongst dense pines creating small bays you can drive into and camp. It has recently been upgraded and there is an ablutions block with flush toilets and showers (cold), and a kitchen with washing up sinks.
We took a forest path which led back to the lake which was stunning, surrounded by mountains tumbling down in green covered slopes into the dark turquoise water, an amphitheatre of peace and tranquillity. After cooking our pasta supper we walked in another direction, to the Bullet River, where water bubbled and cascaded over rocks, and glimpsed a pink sunset through the trees.
The only drawback here is the sand flies, a renowned pest which everyone has warned us about, but this is our first experience. They are tiny black flies, with a vicious bite. I am wearing long trousers tucked into my socks and a long sleeved high collared shirt, with insect repellent on my face and hands, but they keep trying their luck. We will have to spray inside the van before we go to sleep tonight. Evidently the further west we go the worse they will get.