The day dawned again with a partly overcast sky robbing us again of a full sunrise on the mountains surrounding Lake Rotoiti.There was still a hint of sun gleaming off the melting carpet of snow on the tops but we would be left to wonder what a fully clear sky might have bought by way of dramatic light as the sun rose above the mountains to the east.
We joined the Hoofs again in their cottage for breakfast and then they readied themselves to head north to the Marlborough Sounds while we stayed encamped at the Tophouse for a further day and night.
After the Hoofs departed we decided to put our feet up and spend the rest of the morning reading and just chilling out admiring the ever changing view of the mountains.
Today was the first time for a week that we hadnt been out and about in the morning and having lunch somewhere other than our or on the road between places we have stayed at.We had thought about this beforehand and had purchased a can of mushroom and chicken soup in Westport in preparation and heated and consumed this with toast as we
There are any number of walks in and around St Arnaud ranging from 6 or 7 hours circumnavigating the entire shore of Lake Rotoiti or you can take a water taxi and be dropped off so you just do part of the full distance or you can be happy with the 15min Bellbird Walk.So, without straining ourselves,we chose the 1 hour Peninsula Walk which supposedly crosses the Alpine Fault Line twice ! Lets hope there are no earthquakes while we stroll across the fault line.!
With a bit of careful planning we did the downhill part of the walk first(there is always some downhill whatever walk you take in life) which took us from the end of a bush lined street straight into the beech forest and a winding track with easy grade down to the lakefront overlooking West Bay.The track,basically level, then hugged the shoreline around the little piece of land that jutted out into the lake(hence the peninsula).
Again,as with the walk from yesterday on the Honeydew Track, it was interesting to see the large number of predator traps laid out at close and regular intervals close
We had great anticipation of crossing the Alpine Fault twice but either the marking signifying where the crossings were had dissappeared for some reason or had been removed and we never found where we expected to see some sort of change in the landscape around us and into the forest.
The only seating we discovered on the one hour walk was just at the right place where we could sit back and admire a pictorial board on a couple who had done a lot of work in and around the National Park before it was a National Park and also enjoyed the view across to Mt Robert speculating when the snow on the top of the mountain might melt by given that the air temperature in the area was to rise over the next day or two with a northerly wind change due.
We only passed three other people on the track in an hour indicating just how few people there were taking the walks around the lake.
However,as we emerged from the forest at the boat launch ramp,the tranquility that we thought we had been experiencing for the last hour,was somewhat shattered.
We didnt hang around where the people were and headed back to the car up the hill to where we had started the walk.
Back to the cottage and some more R&R and then dinner on our own before calling it a night relatively early for us.
Tomorrow we head north towards Blenhiem and then south to Kaikoura where it will be interesting to see how the earthquakes at Kaikoura in 2016 and near Seddon a year later are still affecting transport to and through the destinations.
