Touring, Day 3

Today, we woke up early so that we could begin exploring. Our plan was to head down to Pigeon bay to hike along a path that follows the coastline. Unfortunately, this path was closed for lambing season. We soon decided on another trail called Hinewai Reserve. It was a lovely trail that started at the top of a ridge, went down a steep incline into the valley and then up onto a second ridge and back over to where it began. We chose to walk one of the shorter trails and this ended up taking us three hours. It was beautiful and very well maintained. An amazing feature was that the foliage would change so drastically around us depending on our altitude and our proximity to a stream. We saw several beautiful waterfalls and stopped for lunch on a narrow bridge over one of the falls. After such an intense hike, we will all sleep very well tonight!