Manapouri and Te Anau

The NZMCA had opened a new park in Manapouri that we were keen to try out and we also hoped that we might come across some friendly travellers who may be prepared to look after the dogs for a day while we did a Doubtful Sounds trip. Unfortunately, that was not to be as the first night we were the only ones in the park.

Bruce took the opportunity to have another fiddle with the satellite dish, using tried and tested Health and safety work platforms.

While he was up there I was the “go get” person on the ground, but it was to no avail. After a full afternoon wasted on it we still could not get the dish to go up.

The surroundings of the camp are lovely with mountain views again, but the camp was a little way out of town (such that town is). We took a drive down to the wharf though in case there were any shorter tours that we could do (and therefore not require a dog sitter) , but that was not to be either.

We did stop for lunch in the converted church in Manapouri though, and that was to be recommended. We thought it funny that the sign with the opening hours at the door said 4pm to 8pm, and yet at lunchtime they were very definitely open!

After lunch we took a tiki tour into Te Anau. There was definitely more to see here and a lovely walk along the edge of the lake.

We spent a bit of time trying to find the vets so we could get a remedy to prevent Beau from continuously licking Hunters rump. When we did find them they had nothing to offer except to get him operated on. This was very tempting, but we had, that morning, received a call from the owners of a potential girlfriend for Beau back in Whitianga. However, in the end, the problem was solved by a bit of Tiger Balm applied to Hunter’s fur. Beau wasn’t at all keen on it, and it did not seem to trouble Hunter. All ready for the next adolescent dog behaviour!

A few doors down from the park was an alpaca farm so Bruce and I took a stroll to check them out. They were pretty tame, curious, and all had name tags on so we were able to talk to them by name. Gorgeous creatures.