Cycle: 73km, mostly on gravel!

We slept well camping! It's been too cold to do this for a while and since camping was the only option at Mavora Lakes we were a bit worried! We shouldn't have been - it was a mild might and we woke to glorious sunshine and the lakes looking at their best.

Due to its remoteness and beauty this place was used fairly extensively for the first Lord of the Rings film. I'm a bit of a fan and hadn't managed to get much of a fix so dragged a very patient wife round the lakes hunting out bits that had been used. After wandering around in completely the wrong place for a while we reread my Lord of the Rings Location Guide (!) and found what we were looking for: some logs that the hobbits hid under (from orcs as Merry and Pippin led them away from Frodo) and the place where Frodo and Sam crossed the river as the fellowship broke up. Awesome! Scott was a happy camper!

We really enjoyed walking round in the sunny weather but time was upon us so we set off to Te Anau by about 1:30. The next section of the road was not so good. Any cars that do head to Mavora Lakes come along this road so it was much more cut up and "corrogated" than the section we'd covered the day before. The land became more agricultural and less scenic so this wasn't as enjoyable as the day before. Still, there was very little traffic and it was shorter than any alternative route so we grit our teeth and got on with it.

We arrived in Te Anau at dusk and checked into the YHA. This nice hostel has great rooms, clean showers and somehow managed to create a really friendly atmosphere.

Rest day tomorrow! Hurray!