Slept in until almost 8 without waking. Up and showered, we ate a breakfast at Peter’s and said goodbye at 10.00. First stop was the Supermarket at Richmond where we bought supplies for two days, and an emergency supper for a third day. Deet was also on this list to protect us from the sand-fly. Also topped up the Vodaphone account so we could continue to make local phone calls.

We headed for Westport, but were anticipating camping earlier at the Lyell Camping ground. The weather was good and was anticipated to be good for the rest of the day. The drive through Upper Buller Gorge was quite spectacular. We stopped at the Lyell Camping Ground at a very early time and went for a walk across the small suspension beach and along the river gorge. There were some gorgeous (well so Rosemary said) mosses which I photographed for R. The birds kept out of view and didn’t appear until the end of the walk where a very obliging robin paused for his (?) portrait.

Another short walk took us down to the actual river, there were signs about the rules for fossicking. There is gold in these waters. Yes, we did see some shiny stuff, but was it gold?

Here we met the dreaded sand-fly, and I was itching all over my feet, hands and arms. Back at the van we spayed ourselves with Deet, horses and stable doors come to mind. So we stopped for a coffee at Inangahua where we were advised to rinse our hands with Detol hand wash, it stops the itching. I think it really does work.

At Carters Beach we stopped at the Top Ten Holiday Park for the night. It is a short walk to the very sandy beach which had a nice swell. Went for a swim. Had been put off by the people dressed in wet suits, but no, it was lovely and warm. As the sun set at 7.36 where was a gorgeous red glow across the sky looking towards Foulwind where the sun disappeared behind the cliffs.