East or West?

The bus was packed - it was time to go. And yes, the dogs were on board! Bernie waved us off and we left not completely sure, whether to head down the West Coast or East. Rain was forecast on both sides of the Island for Monday, which didn't help on making a decision. Eventually, the prediction of good weather for the following week on the West Coast made me decide to travel that way coming home.
So East Coast it was! Blenheim, here we come!
The first stop, was to walk the dogs, up a side road on the way to Lake Rotoiti. 

I headed to Blenheim via Wairua Valley (rather than over the Whangamoas) because I was interested in seeing Lake Argyle. The artificial lake/pond is situated off SH63, and was made as a storage reservoir for the Branch Hydro Scheme. I parked the bus below the lake as I was unsure of the condition of the gravel road or whether turning would be an issue.

The dogs were pleased for the opportunity to get out for a walk. We climbed the embankment to check out the lake. It looked nice but the wind was freezing!

At the southern end of the lake is an overnight camping spot amongst the trees. Although it appeared nice (I only saw it from a distance), I decided not to stay overnight. We'd only just hit the road and I wasn't ready to park up yet.

Water from Lake Argyle leaves via a small powerhouse and then flows into a canal that feeds water into a second powerhouse near the Wairau River. 

We gladly jumped back into the warmth of the bus and continued on to Blenheim. Being a member of the NZMCA I planned to spend the night at the racecourse. However, when I arrived it was bursting with cars and people, turns out there was an event happening. So, I drove a little further north to the Wairua River, a river we'd been to several times a few years ago. My plan was to let the dogs have a walk/swim, while I checked out the NZMCA app to decide where to stay the night. A couple of years ago we had stayed at a place on Dillion Point Road, I knew how to get there, so I phoned ahead and got the ok. I was lucky to get the second to last spot!

Before we turned in for the night, I took the dogs for a walk along the river, which runs through Blenheim.

The dogs loved exploring and I enjoyed time to unwind. Thank goodness for cell phones, I chatted to Bernie again, it was almost as good (but not quite) as having him with us.