TA Day 12: Monday 30 December 2024

Princhester Road / State Highway 94 - Mavora Lakes Campsite

This morning we got picked up at 7 at the holiday park in Te Anau, just as we had been promised by Danny and Alejandra, whom we met yesterday.

They were super nice, and we talked the entire way back to where we left the trail where Princhester Road meets State Highway 94. Actually so much, that we almost missed to get off in the right place!

At first we did a lot of progress on the road, and the first 10 km quickly passed. Then it got slower and slower... Instead of following the pretty much non-existent trail (from what we heard) we had decided to do a big day today and just go to Mavora Lakes Campsite. Made the logistics a lot easier too.

But not much happened along the road. Completely flat, endless sheep pastures on the side of the road and cars passing by some now and then.

At least we had a nice luxurious lunch brought with us! Wraps with prosciutto, avocado, sprouts, pesto, parmesan cheese and mayo. So tasty!

We also noticed two things - one was that Kim had somehow lost a hair tie, and the other was that we lost a water bottle. Which was extra strange since we filled all of them in the morning... But most likely, in all the morning chaos and the hitching, we forgot to pack it just before leaving. Tough, as it was a long day today and nowhere to fill water...

The otherwise most interesting thing that happen but also really heartbreaking part, was passing a huge sheep pasture with this lonely tiny lamb in the corner, crying to us as we passed.

Some time later, we saw something white in the middle of the otherwise empty pasture, which looked like it could be a dead sheep. Probably mum?

And as we continued, the lamb just kept crying and screaming, and we've never heard such a heartbreaking sound before. It really felt like it was calling out to us for help. But how do you help when you don't know the owner?

So we continued, hoping the owner would find the lamb soon enough and help the lamb somehow.

After 6 hours the views looked just the same but we were now a little closer to the beautiful mountains.

We trudged on, really tired, and apparently passed a Lord of the Rings filming location! We saw a couple in a camper van act out a scene from the movie, in Hobbit clothes, which was funny.

A little later we entered the Mavora Lakes area, and now we walked through some nice forests! So appreciated with a change of view.

After 40 km of walking and plenty of cars passing every hour, the first car stopped to offer us a ride. We gently declined, just less than 3 km left, and also - no cheating!

Finally, we arrived. The place was huge, with cars, ATVs, cross bikes, tents, people etc all over.

We managed to find a spot in the otherwise busy place, and pretty much crashed there.

The place was loud and busy well into the night, but we managed to fall asleep anyway because we were tired.

Today's:

Distance: 42.62 km

Ascent: 389 m

Descent: 94 m

Tent nights: 5/12

Weather: Mostly cloudy, sometimes sunny and rain/drizzle on and off all day