23rd Dec - Te Anau to Five Rivers

We had a lazy morning and a big brunch of yesterday's left overs. We went for a wonder around the wildlife park (free) in Te Anau in order to see the dancing wood pidgin that Manuel had told us all so much about. Got and awesome video of the insane bird. Very funny.

By the time I had done some food shopping, put my bike back together and said good bye to everyone, it was 4 before I got on the road. It was good timing as it had been raining and gray all morning but then cleared up by the time I got on my bike. It was great to get back on the road in the sunshine. For most of the way I had a great tail wind and the road was reasonably flat but with mountains on either side.

About 8ish I turned to head north - right into a head wind and so the going was rather slower. I was traveling on a road which went through farm land and I could not see anywhere off the road to put up my tent and so at 9 I stopped off at a farm and asked if I could put my tent up in their field. A girl was baby sitting and said that she thought it would be fine with the owners. I put up my tent and was sitting and reading my book when the farmer (Jean) popped over and invited me in for a cuppa and some macaroni cheese. Jean and his wife (Angela) are lovely people and we chatted about loads of things till late. They said that they found it funny how tourists stop to take pictures of their cows and also the gorse bushes and the hay bails - at which point I showed them the pictures that I had taken this evening - of their cows, gorse and hay bails. It was funny.

I slept in the hunters hut instead of my tent - which was fab as it was dry and warm and the weather turned badly through the night. It was very good of them to put me up. A good nights sleep.