Lake Rotoroa

The roads leading out of Abel Tasman and up over to the west coast seem to take a while...narrow, winding, and heaps of logging trucks. We found an interesting looking lake on the map, and decided to shoot for that.

We crossed a bridge and drove down a narrow valley. We came upon Lake Rotoroa at the end. The bridge crossed right over the outlet to the lake, which was a natural stream. I think this is the first time I've acually seen a 'real', natural lake outlet that wasn't a dam! Anyway, it turned out that the road was a bit too much for the campervan to get to the DoC campground, so we parked alongside some other campervans in the day use area by the boat dock...lakefront! It was spectacular. Just to the far end of the lake lie sharp, snowcapped peaks. A trail head was located a the car park, so we ventured out for a walk. The track goes all the way around the lake, and has several DoC huts where you can spend the night. We just went for a short walk before retuning to the dock for sunset.


View of the lake from camp.


The forest floor was clothed in ferns.


Here come the swans!


Jon walking on logs.


The lake turned to pure glass! So beautiful!


As we kept moving through the forest trail a the edge of the lake...

The swans followed us at the lake shore! (No doubt thinking they would get fed by us!)

When we returned to the dock, the show began. Can you believe the crystal clarity?



Now the ducks...



The storm moved in that evening and it rained all night...perfect for sleeping. The sky was clear in the morning, and we were off to the beach! Little did we know that the drive there would be yet another spectacular New Zealand scenery encounter.