Off we go! We don’t leave until way after midday and get as far as Macraes. When we reach the main mine we smell an awful brake kind of smell. At first we thought it was coming from the mine but soon discovered it is us! We call AA and Ray from Palmerston Garage recognises us straight away and says “you’ve gone from blowing up Hilux’s to Mitsubishis.”

Turns out the brake drum wasn’t put in correctly with the spring at our mechanics in chch. It took until we went through some good bumps for the spring to come off causing the brake to come on. By the time we were all fixed up it was getting dark. So we headed down the road to find a spot to camp and turned around back to Macraes village to have dinner at the pub. We were the only patrons who were not from the mine.

Heading inland towards the Lake District. I try to find us an alternative route that bypasses Ranfurly and takes us a new way. We get nearly all the way to discover we can’t get through. So an hour back in the direction we came to go through Ranfurly. We get through to Wānaka obviously op shopping along the way. In Wānaka we refuel and get a few groceries before heading to further west. We get past the Neck at Lake Hāwera – Lake Wānaka when the brake problem happens again. We try to fix it ourselves but end up calling AA again. A nice guy comes out to help and Rowan says it is definitely put on correctly and we shouldn’t have any more issues. However we do need to get new brake shoes again. In the end we make it to near the Haast Pass and park up for the evening.

A wicked storm last night brings on a great day. Lots of exploring along the way meant we didn’t get that far but that is all part of the fun. Patches of rain came and went. We got about 30min south of Fox Glacier and stopped by a river for the night.

No photos of Fox or Franz, weather was pretty pants so you couldn’t see much. The rain was relentless and it didn’t stop all day. Near Harihari you cross the Wanganui River and turn left. Head up as far as you dare in your car, get out and walk a good 20min or so, get into the river and you will find steam. Which is some awesome natural hot pools. Well worth the slog to get there. A great temperature! I have wanted to do this for ages and here we are ticking it off the list. Definitely will be doing this again!

The usual spot I know I can stay just out of Hokitika is not allowed anymore. I find a walk inland and we hope to find a spot we can stay. It is Tunnel Terrace Walk. It is too dark to do it tonight but we will tomorrow morning.

The old mine walk was really nice. We both got soaked through. After a morning at Serpentine Beach we headed to Blackball for lunch. Unfortunately we could not continue on to Reefton as the road is closed. Instead we ended up going all the way to Mohikinui for an early dinner and came up to Denniston Plateau to sleep. It has been on the list for a while and it is a fantastic spot. Very glad we came up.

Not going far today, just to Nelson. It was a wild night up on the plateau, I think we got the full experience. Taking our time we landed in Nelson in the afternoon.