We had a great nights sleep in Greymouth but woke up to cold windy weather. It was really relaxing sitting in the van overlooking the ocean, but it was a bit grey so we headed off.

As we headed inland the weather cleared and warmed up. We didn’t get very far. I think we drove about 2 hours and stopped for lunch in Reefton. We had no plans to stop for the day, but the freedom camp there was gorgeous, overlooking the river. So we parked up while we cooked up some burgers for lunch. 

Then we took a stroll around Reefton. It’s a cool old gold-mining town with charming shops like in Coromandel. But it was so hot! We stopped in the tourist centre to get out of the heat and that had a film on about Denniston, so we sat down to watch it.

Then we went back to our camp, and decided a swim was in order. The river water was a bit cool to start with but once we got in, it was beautiful and refreshing. We spent the afternoon lazing around, and meeting people. We met a couple from Whitianga, and a guy from Ngatea! And a couple who are living in their motorhome who said they saw us way back at the arches up past Karamea!

The weather is so weird. We’ve gone from freezing days and nights to absolutely hot. For the last week i’ve been sleeping in my thermals, tonight I am sleeping in a singlet with the windows wide open and the fan on! Crazy!