On to Fiordlands

The email test post (below) apparently posted to my dashboard but didn't publish so 2 quick updates today.

Spent 3 days camped on the lake at Kinloch (north of Glenorchy) followed by 1 near the start of the Routeburn track. Day hikes on Routeburn, to Sylvan Lake (pic below doesn't do it justice - it truly is an enchanted forest - I expected to see elves running around) and around the lake towards Greenstone.  It's really a beautiful area - surrounded by mountains with glimpses of peaks that rival the Swiss Alps.

The weather is taking a definite turn for the worse. Leaves are turning and last night was very cold with new snow on the surrounding peaks. Hopefully it won't turn too bad until I'm ready to start heading back north.
Sunrise this morning:

I'm at the library in Te Anau atm. Had planned on staying at the holiday park here tonight but they want $21 for the privilege of sleeping in their parking lot in my car so will move on to hopefully find a DOC (Dept of Conservation - equivalent of Natl Parks Service in the US) site for the night. I'm using an app called "Camping NZ" it's awesome for finding places to camp. The laws here are very restrictive - sites have to have a public toilet (for me since I'm not self contained - ie don't have a toilet and black/grey water facilities on board) and be marked for camping - otherwise if caught, it's an instant $200 fine and they patrol quite a bit. Wifi is hard to come by so updates may be few and far between for a bit. Even a phone connection is pretty spotty and I've been leaving my phone off most of the time to conserve the battery.

Well it's almost 5 and this tiny room in the library where those wishing to suck up free wifi are banished to, is packed and smells so I think that's all for now. Love you all! :)
Tell Adrian and Mary Lou grats on the new jobs and give my love and best wishes to Ryan and Mika! Hope they throw a great party (I'm sure they will)!