Saturday 5th January – Return to Motueka

We had to leave our camping spot in the morning but none of us were in any rush to get back to Motueka.  We felt like we had missed out by not having a swim during the trip so far.  We found a lovely secluded spot at a place called Milnthorpe and had a game of Frisbee in the refreshing water.  

A beautiful stretch of water for a swim and some Frisbee....

Then we stopped off at Ngarua caves which housed some incredible formations and gave us the opportunity to strike some cheesy poses. 

There were bones and fossils in the caves from long-extinct species like Moa

Photos never do these kind of formations justice.... but we added our own sense of awe (below)

Libby escapes from the underworld... into the land of the Hobbits!

As we climbed through a hatch out of the caves, we were informed that the scenery in front of us was used as a filming location in ‘The Hobbit’, which is nice, but none of us had seen the movie!

It was still too early to be calling it a day.  We stopped at Kaiteriteri and Libby and I did some stand-up paddle boarding (SUP).  Incredibly, neither of us took an impromptu swim. We were given beginners boards which seemed to be more stable so that we could keep our balance as we paddled around the marina, even with the odd wave or two coming along.  We really enjoyed our time.

SUP selfie!

We needed showers, so we did have to start making our way back to the house (briefly) to clean up before heading for dinner and drinks out for our last evening with Libs.

We were allowed to sleep in the tent on the hill again that night (reluctantly!).