Huntly

We awoke to clear blue skies this morning, but the cloudless skies had caused the temperature to plummet over night to a biting cold. Our breath fogged in the confines of the van and there was more than the usual amount of condensation on the windows and ceiling.

Little Waipa is an idyllic setting with few other people, but without power there is no way to heat the van and we quickly ran out of water after this morning's cup of tea. We decided to move to a site with a few more amenities. Wishing to continue on the route to Auckland, we rejoined SH1, sped through Cambridge - which we had previously visited - and Hamilton, to arrive on the shores of Lake Hakanoa at the Motor Van Park.

Naughty pukeko

The sun still shone, so I took a walk through Huntly town centre (one road) to procure us some drinks for the unseasonally hot day. Sandwiches and beer (ginger for some) by the lake were how we spent the lazy afternoon.

Given that we only have a few days left in New Zealand, it seems odd not to be charging about seeing as much of it as we can possibly fit into our remaining time. However, we have already had so many great experiences, including travelling the full length of both North and South Islands, that we were content to stay a couple of nights just remaining stationary.

The other thing about wrapping up our time here is having a strange assortment of food left from which to cobble nutritious and hopefully tasty meals. Tonight's effort used up the remaining noodles (udon and bean thread) in an unusual combination with some mushrooms and green beans.