On the road to Riverton

Most of this adventure has been fairly adhoc, we have a general idea of the direction we are going to head, but Holly reads as I drive about things to see & do along the way.


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We left our Eglington campsite & the Fiordlands behind and headed back to Te Anue to restock and head south. We thought that we might camp at Lake Monowai, but we just stopped there for a short hike and then went to on to hike up Mt. Burns.

Mt. Burns was a great 1 1/2 hour hike through woods that were covered with white-hanging moss and got us up above the tree line and provided for a spectacular view of the southern Fiordlands.

Mt. Burns

After a quick peanut butter & jelly sandwich is was on towards the southern tip of the South Island. We thought we would spend the night in Tuarapere, but once we got there it was unimpressive (hard to believe), so we decided to go on to Riverton. Riverton turned out to be a great choice, a small little seaside village, and we stayed at the Globe Hotel. The Globe was a backpackers hotel, as most of the places we have stayed are (if we are not camping), that served up a great pizza, Bruce's Burner, was my favorite. We liked this village enough that we stayed for two nights. Friday night there was open mike at the bar at the Globe and the music was the best we have heard while we have been here and it drew a large crowd.

Riverton Sun

The next day was NZ Anzac Day, their Memorial Day. As I headed out to get some sunrise photos, there was a small parade led by bagpipers coming down the main street. After this I headed out and got some nice shots of the sunrise. Later at about 10 am, there was a larger parade that we attended, with many more bagpipers and much larger crowd than the sunrise parade.

Riverton Anzac Parade

Later that day we took a hike out through a preserve that took us to the ocean, we are now on the South Pacific, no longer the Tasmen Sea. Holly is a shell hunting freak and she was in hog heaven on this beach, She has quiet the treasure trove of shells not to bring back with her. Then it was back for more pizza and checking out the few stores/galleries that were open.

Riverton Walk