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We made our first Lord of the Rings stop today, it was in the aptly named Arrowtown, although we couldn't find exactly where they shot the scenes as there aren't any signs anywhere! Although we did spot a LOTR sightseeing tour and so proceeded to simply follow them! We think we found the right spot, and even if we didn't it was a nice photo opportunity! Next up was the sight of the Hackett Bungee: neither Jo or I wanted in any way to do the bungee, but it was pretty cool to watch two screaming people fall the mere forty metres towards the river! Not for me thank you! This was across the road from another of the LOTR sets, but the name fails me. Sorry Jo!
The drive from Queenstown was one of the most winding we'd driven on, and surprisingly some of the bends were uncharacteristically not signposted! Lots of things in the back of the van were introduced to both sides as we quickly turned the wheel to accommodate 25km/h speeds around bends!
We stopped by the lake in Wanaka for lunch, a lovely display of Philadelphia and Vegemite sandwiches followed by one of Jo's 'gooey slices'. I must say, Vegemite is certainly doing well, a lot better than Marmite ever has! As we ate, a lad came over to comment on our very cool van and decided to calls us Poms, thinking he was original of course. He warned us about the sandflies up north and how we should rethink wearing black, the current colour for both of us! He then went on to ask if we'd encountered any problems with driving or the police, to which I honestly replied no and tapped my head, saying 'touch wood'. It was at this point he said 'wouldn't it be ironic if when you left here you got pulled over or had an accident?'. Yes dear, it would be, it would be the very definition of the word! Fool.
Unfortunately we went a bit too far down an incorrect road and had to go back on ourselves again, but at least the weather was nice for us whilst we did it! We stopped a few times along the way to take photos of the sites, and even of a few tame butterflies, this was before the sandflies started to stalk us.
Pardon my language but it was sod's law when we set off from sandfly hell: we were rocketing along when suddenly a great thud landed on the van. Would you believe a suicidal bird had flown right into our path and was now sitting, claws facing the heavens, wedged right in front of me in the windscreen wipers. I'm sure the Wanaka fool put a jinx on us! As Jo and watched, or Jo strained to see from the passenger's seat, the bird's feathers blew in the wind and we both dreaded having to pull over and remove it from its final resting place. Luckily we turned a corner and it blew off into the road. Not a feather remained!
After all that excitement we pulled into Haast campervan site, right near Mount Mark! We'd also passed a Douglas Creek and Douglas Falls along the way, no sign of John though. The bird had clearly done nothing to quell our appetite so we headed down to the local pub, recommended by Lonely Planet, for a nice 'hearty dinner'. Unfortunately Lonely Planet didn't mention that the pub was more like a village hall made of Bingo-going aged people and overpriced food that was pretty much self-service! I paid $26 for some strips of fish, only to be told that I had to serve myself the veggies and side dishes! Haast was not impressing us. I won't mention the name, but it's pretty clear they could charge such prices because of a lack of competition: I could get a decent main at The Fox for that! Rant over.
We followed the meal with a game of Scrabble (yes, we are 22 year old backpackers), its first outing I might add, although I have carried it all through Africa and Australia, much to the amusement of my fellow travellers as I struggled to fit everything else in my bag! Unfortunately Jo and I have played very different versions of Scrabble, meaning I was a lot more stingy with the points than she's used to! I like to think my way was correct, particularly as she said the rules she'd been used to were made up due to her only having access to Japanese rules! I was fair though, and followed the rules as the official English Scrabble guide had told me... I did win though, which makes this story a little more suspect!
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