4 seasons in 1 kilometre!

Heading north again now - the return begins.

I slept unbelievably well last night and woke feeling refreshed and ready to go. It was a bit overcast with the odd spit of rain, but nothing to worry about. The ride out is about 6 or 7kms then you head up over a little rise that separates Lake Hawea from Lake Wanaka. I could see before I got there that the Lake Wanaka side weather was a bit wetter. It turned out to be a lot wetter! The rain began within a few hundred metres of 'the crossing' and it just got worse and worse. Typical of the West Coast weather (hey - they don't get all this beautiful lush greenery without the help of a significant amount of moisture!) the constant downpours that followed were a sombre reminder of just how the weather can change in a blink and can have a devastating effect not only on the landscape, but on people too. The drive past Diana Falls, where a major landslip swept 2 tourists to their deaths last year, was still being monitored and worked on. We were warned about the possiblity of road closures and long delays. Given the weather conditions we had I have to confess to some nerves about completing this stretch of the journey. It turned out to be very well managed though and my 'delay' amounted to about 1 minute. It was nevertheless, very sobering to drive past the slip. I am in full admiration for the people who are managing and working on this stunningly beautiful but treacherous stretch of road.

My campsite of choice tonight is by the beautiful Lake Paringa The moisture has brought out an abundance of sandflies and mosquitoes though - I may well change my mind about just how lovley it is if they get the better of me tonight!