January 26, 2026
It was about a 3 hour drive from Hanmer Springs to our next destination in Saint Arnaud. The morning was very overcast and it was raining periodically. I took over driving. Our first stop was Lewis Pass, but since it was still raining and we had visited there before in 2019, we only stayed long enough for a quick bathroom break and rest stop.
Another 10 minutes of driving took us to Maruia Falls. This nice small waterfall was just a short walk from the parking lot.
Our next stop was at a bridge that crossed the Buller River. We walked onto the bridge and had very nice views of the river in both directions.
We drove to the town of Murchison where we wanted to visit the Tutaki Bakery. We heard this was a good place to buy pies. The bakery was inside a food truck. The sign outside said "Open", but the truck was closed with nobody around. Just down the street from the bakery we stopped at a small park. The Mataki Willow Grove Walk was a pleasant 20-minute loop hike near the Matakitaki River.
We drove another hour and stopped to take the Kawatiri Historic Railway Walk. We had done this walk before in 2019, so this was a repeat for us. It's a nice loop walk through a railroad tunnel and then returns with views of the nearby Hope River. Here we had our first encounter with the dreaded sandflies. Many flew inside the car as we were getting ready to leave.
We reached Saint Arnaud after another 25 minutes of driving. Our accommodation was a kiwi bach: a huge old house named Long Lookout. It was very private and had its own dedicated path down to the shore of Lake Rotoiti.
After settling in, I took the path down to the lake. The weather had cleared a bit, and I had a nice walk near the lakeshore.
Back at the house we had lamb burgers and salad for dinner.