From Waimate to Twizel

A quick note from Timaru: I actually saw penguins and they were so tiny, the smallest there are. Additionally, I had an incredible starry sky, truly amazing. Waking up in the morning, I first looked at my surroundings since I arrived in the dark. There was a small lake with many birds, which was already beautiful, then off to the beach. It was somehow quite special, it looked like it would never end, extending infinitely to the left and right. Then it was back on tour after a light breakfast. First stop: Elephant Rocks. A stop that was extremely worthwhile, I thought it was really cool there. You had a really nice view (unnecessary to say, because it’s actually everywhere) and there were sheep there too. It was like a giant adventure playground. I must say, you could stop at every turn and take more photos, nature is indescribably beautiful, it’s like being in a painting. Then you drive past herds of sheep, herds of cows (Milka cows, I tell you) and llamas, etc. So I can’t put into words how beautiful it is. After that, we continued to the Maori Rock Drawings, as it was right on the way. Not gonna lie, there were boards showing what it used to look like, otherwise, I wouldn’t have recognized anything there. I really wanted to get to the Waikati River, which I was driving along the whole time, and I found a cute spot. The water was freezing cold but crystal clear, surrounded by stunning mountains. Then I went to Omarama, as it was on the way and there was supposedly a water station there. So I was a bit nervous because I had never done this before. I also started filling up with the wrong water, but then an older lady came to me and showed me where I could fill up drinking water. Well, it doesn’t matter; the main thing is that I had drinking water now. It was a bit awkward to fill such a huge canister this way; I definitely need to buy a hose. But for now, I have about 25 liters of water. I also went shopping there and held up all the traffic because I wanted to buy one beer and my ID was still in the car. But they take this really seriously here. Then one last stop: the clay cliffs. The only place where I had to pay something, 1 dollar for the road, since it’s private property. The road: the most gravelly gravel road ever. At some point, I arrived at the parking lot and then hiked about 10-15 minutes up through the bushes. Then came my final boss, where you have to squeeze through like in a canyon. So left and right and above you only clay cliffs, barely enough room to pass through. Then it went up a few meters steeply rocky (good thing I had my hiking boots on) and you were right in the middle of it, which was pretty cool. Finally, I went to the spot for the night near Twizel. I’m standing right at the edge, seeing Lake Ruataniwha and the mountains. Ate well, could wash my face haha, having a water canister on board is definitely a game changer. And now I'm drinking my beer, reading, and tomorrow we continue. So far, I believe I have already driven about 600 km.