Day 13 - Kiwi Burn Hut to North Mavora lake campsite, 17.2km, 5 hours 50 minutes

With a shorter day in prospect there was a bit of a sleep in today, and a lot of mucking around. We probably weren't on track until 10:30.

Stephen's feet were still suffering, and with a tight calf now to go with it we made slow, deliberate progress to minimize any further damage. Fortunately Elijah seems in good nick with no particular issues. He has fastidiously been keeping up his stretches to minimize the possibility of his Severs Disease playing up.

We spent most of the day following the Upper Mavora River. As we approached South Mavora Lake the river became quite spectacular.
First there were some fearsome looking rapids, bigger than just about anything I've seen in the South Island, and to me somewhat reminiscent of the rapids above the Hooker falls on the Waikato River (albeit with less flow, obviously).

Further on still, and now quite close to the lake, the river still had a fast current, but was now deep and clear. It looked like it would be a trout fishing mecca.



... and so to South Mavora lake, a thing of beauty, for a very late lunch. I wasted no time in quickly jumping in where the Mavora River flows out, although care was required, there is quite some current.



Stephen and Eli took the opportunity of exiting via a swing bridge to the Mavora road, and hitching the 6km up to North Mavora lake to save Stephen's feet. I carried on along South Mavora lake and found the going very easy, knocking the distance off in under an hour.



After some confusion after we set up different camps at each end of the kilometer long camping ground, we eventually found each other and settled down for the evening, but not before popping into the lake for a quick swim.



Both lakes are exceedingly beautiful. Camping here would be amazing!

 We are pitched within meters of a Lord of the Rings site - if you're familiar with the films, where Frodo and Sam leave the fellowship by rowing across a river, after having hidden in the trees from orcs. Interesting stuff!


Two more short days in store. I'm really looking forward to enjoying the lake some more tomorrow.