the kumara horse races. i went all in on the #11 horse in the second race. he came in dead last. so naturally i joined the drunken masses and we consoled each other.

eager sand flies wait for me to emerge from my tent in the morning. beware of the sand fly.

i remember on this particular occasion i had no bug spray. i also didn't have a lighter to make a smokey fire. and oh my god did the sand flies feast. it took me a few minutes of fumbling around with some flint to get a small fire going. but of course, there was no wood around, and this fire was truely pathetic. oh man it was bad. the only time the sand flies were worse was when i was trying to hitchhike south to wanaka. i was standing next to a swamp and no one picked me up for two hours (the longest i ever have had to wait for a ride). if i remember correctly i could be seen kicking the ground, hitting myself, and shouting obscenities. no wonder i couldn't get a lift.

just south of mt. cook on the west coast near haast there are some spectacular farms.

i was going to sleep in here but it was locked! since when are churches locked?
instead i slept in my tent and waged war against the sand flies.