07/06/2018 - Snowed in at Lake Rotoiti

Pulled the blanket up to our chins, we woke up around 07:20 am at 'Lake Rotoiti'. We looked out of the rear window and realized that many specks were finding their way to the ground. Was it rain or snow? As we sat up, pulled the curtain aside, and opened the sliding door... we saw a white snowy landscape around us. We couldn't believe our eyes. We quickly closed the door again because it was still snowing in addition to the cold coming in. We discussed the situation and decided to move the car. Tobi threw his backpacks and clothes, which were sitting on the front seat, onto the bed. While I was still sitting in the back on the bed, he took a seat in the driver's seat and drove us near the kitchen shelter. There we found shelter under a roof. This way we could easily shake out the bed and pack our breakfast stuff from the trunk.
After breakfast, the snow stopped and the ground started to thaw. However, the icy windows needed a little help. Fortunately, the sun was now shining, which thawed our frozen car windows from the outside and inside. We then drove - once again - to the visitor center to warm up our hands and feet. Since we had to postpone the hike to 'Mount Robert' due to the snow - once again - a Plan B was needed. We found out that there is a café in the small village of 'Saint Arnaud' which we headed to. When we arrived there, we were faced with closed doors. Great. Now what? Not far away was the General Store, which was also a Fish & Chips takeaway. So we quickly moved on, so as not to smell like fried food. As usual, we found refuge in our faithful car. We parked it right by the shore of Lake Rotoiti, dedicated ourselves to the blog, the further travel route, and - once again - observed the hustle and bustle there. The many tourists and ducks provided plenty of entertainment. The latter, for example, were particularly curious on this day. They gathered around every newly arrived car - 'Could it have brought something to eat?!'. They also surrounded ours. One of them constantly stared up at us. Suddenly it spread its wings and flew straight up to land on our car roof! We were completely perplexed. We opened the car door and looked at the roof. There was actually a duck sitting on the car, looking at us confidently. We couldn't stop laughing. The duck initially showed no signs of wanting to fly away. But at some point, it seemed to lose interest and took course for another car roof. Those Rotoitian ducks are crazy. ;)
Around noon, as happened several times that day, a short rain shower passed over us. The resulting rainbow was indescribable! It curved across the lake and built a roof over our car. It looked so beautiful. :)
A few hours had passed, and a tour bus actually found its way to Lake Rotoiti.

There are several providers in New Zealand that offer international backpackers an unforgettable adventure. Many buses chauffeur the 'wild ones' from attraction to attraction.

When the bus parked by the lake shore, most of the backpackers ran onto the wooden pier to take pictures. Others started to change or undress. What are they up to? Seriously, are they going to jump into the lake? Well, they sure wanted to. Only dressed in swim trunks, one after the other jumped into the icy cold water! At least that's what we gathered from the screams they let out when they resurfaced. We must note that the female gender showed considerably less drama. While the gentlemen climbed back onto the wooden pier as quickly as possible, the girls bravely swam back to the lake shore. For a while, we wondered if they hadn't seen the big eels under the pier yet? When the first swimmer spotted them, there was a big commotion. ;)
When the bus had collected all swimmers and photographers, we used the remaining afternoon to take more extensive photographs. The wooden pier, Lake Rotoiti, and the surrounding mountains formed a beautiful motif. With several long exposure shots, we tried to capture the beautiful surroundings.
In the evening, we went to bed hoping not to be snowed in again tomorrow and finally be able to go on the planned hike to Mt Robert.