In the morning we had a relaxed camp site vibe going on. So as the other van stumbled and stirred for the day I thought I would show Katy the beach we had found the night before. One thing I hadn’t mentioned in the previous post is that the rocks at the beach are like no other. They look like solid lumps of rock that would require training and gym experience to handle but in fact weigh next to nothing. The resulting feel is something like natures own form of styrofoam.
Katy was delighted with this find and we decided to play around for a bit by throwing the rocks into the lake and watching them lazily float on the surface. We become so good at this that we eventually mastered the art of making the rocks levitate around us.
Zen 
More Zen
It had now been over 24 hours since our last experience of a hot spring and we were having withdrawal symptoms. Showers just didn’t have the same effect and the only thing we could think about was hot water surrounding us. Thankfully Louise managed to find a voucher online to a hot spring spa nearby. A deal too good to miss we made haste on our zen.
This was our third hot spring on our road trip thus far, so I believe that qualifies us to be critics of thermal delights. Therefore, this gains the accolade for the classiest thermal bath (I mean not that that’s much of a feat when I’m comparing it to the hot beach and one installed at the back of a caravan site). This place was lovely! The hot water flowed down from a volcanic spring at the back of the spa. This then flowed over rocks to cool it down to a bathe-able temperature. This provided a stunning sight of the spa at the plums of steam would wash past you as you relaxed.
A good hour or so of relaxation and we were done. The last thing we needed was to be knocked into a relaxed stupor as we needed to make way on our day. What better way to wake up by doing a thermal walk which was located nearby. We decided this would be a good spot to tuck into some lunch and explore the local thermal rocks.
A charming location, the owner and his two cats welcomed us into the building. We sat outside to enjoy our lunch and were accompanied by our very own lamb guest. He gently barged the side of Rachel’s leg in an attempt to score some free lunch. He was, however adorable he may have been, unsuccessful in this attempt. Clearly fed up, he sat down and stared longingly into the kitchen from the outside windows.
“Douggie” a voice cried out from behind us. “Baaaaahhhhh” Douggie replied, not moving but bleating towards the glass paned door infront of him. “Douggie”. “Baaaahhhh”. This continued for a while with Douggie, never moving, continued to bleat at the glass. In the end the voice, which was that of the owners son, came over and picked Douggie up. Apparently it was his lunch time too. We were able to pet the lamb and wondered if he was lazy or in fact very clever and knew that bleating on the floor would eventually get him picked up, rather than having to walk to the farmer.
Not fully content with the previous days luge expeirce, Annie and Mike raced each other wooden carts in the garden of the restaurant. However this came to an abrupt ending during a very low speed, yet overall dramatic collision, between the two.
During all this commotion, Katy and I frantically went through the phones to see where our next location could be. Campermate was not so forthcoming in available campsites. Of those that did have room in the inn they were either too far or too close for the driving that we needed to complete in this day.
Google mapping down the route and a thought came to mind. Hidden away from the main road came a point of interest for an activity called “River Valley Lodge”. One of the first photos to appear on the listing was that of a group doing some white water rafting. Could we add another adrenaline fuelled activity to our repertoire?
Keen to not waste a second Katy was straight on the phone and we had confirmed that not only did they do rafting from the location but that we could all camp at the main building. What a result!
As we drove southwards across the lake we were treated to some fabulous views of the New Zealand landscape. It wasn’t long until, to our right, Mount Doom from the Lord of the Rings became visible to us. It was great seeing it by car but we desperately tried to find a scenic spot for us to pull over and admire the it properly. Annoyingly no scenic lookout appeared but we did find a vacant road to pull over and take some much needed photos!
A bit further up the road and we were instructed to pull off the main highway and onto a dirt road. Our poor one litre Toyota was having to work its little engine off as we travelled the across the undulating hills in-front of us. Lot’s of sheep and horses on the roadside made for great views and we saw signposts for the River Valley Lodge. Reassuring to know we were on the right track!
“You have arrived at your destination” bellowed the tomtom as we approached the end of the paved road and came across a gravel driveway. With no River Valley lodge in sight, nor any water (we were still at quite an altitude above the river) this didn’t seem right. We decided to continue down the road ahead of us and see what was there.
A few minutes along the bumpy path and a sign confirmed that we were indeed going the correct way. This was shortly followed by a sign to warn of a steep descent coming soon. Unsure how to take this we applied a cautionary speed and continued on. The ground slowly dropped from below our tires and the gravel track now resembled a more rocky descent to the river. A few meters down we had to battle with a hairpin turn and BAM! The path was now going at a descent of something approaching 20%. With the sharp bumps and rocks underneath us we both held our breath out of fear for our poor tyres.
We made it to the bottom by the river and there also stood the lodge. We sighed a small sigh of relief before frantically radioing through to the other group to ensure they were okay. Things felt tense enough in our small campervan, who knows what it must have been like travelling down the rocky slide in a motorhome. They, however, managed to make it down without breaking a sweat and we were all now unsure what to do. Katy recalled that the instructions on the phone were to talk to the guy behind the bar when we arrived to establish where we should camp. Some small confusion followed but we eventually were told we could park our vans up next to the tree on the river side.
We located the outdoor kitchen on the campsite and got into full cooking mode. Unfortunately the patio heater for the kitchen had an issue in that the thing would not stay lit after the starter cable was released. This was even after a long enough period of time for the heater to be basting the heat out. However, being a group of mostly engineers we crafted an elegant solution. In this instance, we tied a chilly bin (that will be a cool box to anyone from home, I know it’s weird but that’s what they call them in New Zealand) around the starter cord and hey presto, non-stop heat!
After dinner we took out the massive road map of New Zealand and flipped it over to B side. The south island was laid out before us in all of its mapped scale glory. We drank and planned our route through the south island and after some too-ing and fro-ing we had made a rough resemblance of a route with locations we wanted to see. Drinks downed, it was time for bed to ensure we were rested up for the rafting coming our way!