Giant's ping pong

We couldn't wait to get out of Pigeon Bay. After shaking most sandflies out of the tent, we packed everything and left in the direction of Mount Cook. For lunch, Machiel tried New Zealand's savoury Marmite spread for the first time. It was edible. Susanne had already tried it 10 years ago and wanted none of it.

We took another break at a giant salmon statue in Rakaia, where we prayed to the Salmon God for good fortune. Who knows, maybe it will pay off one day. Wanting a bit more comfort our next night, we went to a bigger campsite in Ashburton. We really needed to wash clothes, and that was possible here as well. Tricky part with washing for us is that a dryer won't do, we need to air dry our special complex high performance gear or else they might get damaged in the long run. Thankfully they also had drying lines for us.

The campsite was really nice, practically a large park with their own lake. They actually had showers, and a tennis court where we played a giant version of ping pong. We weren't so good at actual tennis, but it was fun to try. We wanted a swim in the pool after tennis too, but they unfortunately had just closed. We made a lentils curry for dinner.Read more