Wed 10 Feb - Checking Out Murchison

 A slow start to the day as everyone is in recovery mode after all the adventuring with Dad.  Matty and I were the early birds, so we went for a walk to explore the thriving metropolis of Murchison.  Found a lovely wee store that sold just about everything!  Bought a double walled drink bottle for Nana, and went on a short walk to her motel to deliver it.  Here is Matty investigating the pond at the motel to see if it had any fish.

He and I popped in to a museum too.  Turns out Murchison had a massive quake 2 years before the Napier one.

Spent the afternoon seeing a few local highlights:

#1 The Mataki Willowgrove Walk beside the river.

#2 The Kahikatea Walk.  This was cool, heaps of really tall trees, even one that have fallen over and was completely rotten in the middle.  Zach had fun picking up chunks of it, drop kicking them and watching the bits fly everywhere.  Boys!! So different from girls!

#3 Maruia Falls, this was a wee drive out of town, but an amazing sight.  Turns out you can freedom camp there. Kids found it really interesting how the waterfall created two whirlpools on either side and had pulled debris into the centre of them.

Starting to appreciate how many cool rocks there are everywhere we go!  Such a contrast to the North Island.