Kai-iwi Lakes

We continued to Kai-iwi lakes, enclosed in petrified dunes. Here, a small 4km hike took us to the Tasman Sea. It was raining hard. The path took us over electric fences and past a herd of bulls. Dodging cow paddies and trying to stay out of shin deep mud, we finally made it to the beach. Here a 4m waterfall fell onto the sand. I quickly changed into my bathing suit (although I was soaked already) and ran to the waves. The water was rough and I didn’t venture further out than my knees. The waterfall made for a nice fresh water shower afterwards. Back at the van we warmed up with some hot tea and dry clothes.

We drove past Pakupaku peak but it was too wet to do any more hikes. We went up a hill along a dead-end gravel road to set up camp, surrounded by gates marking the last cow farms. All evening we were surrounded by “Moo”s from all directions. And we heard “pop, pop, pop” in the distance. It was the day before Guy Fawkes Day. On this day, people in the UK, Australia and NZ celebrate the failed gunpowder assassination attempt on the British king in 1605. They light bonfires and set off fireworks. So from our hill, we saw fireworks set off nearby. And occasionally, a few big ones were set off in a town far off in the distance.Read more