Nelson to Murchison (part 2)

With the plan of heading towards Hanmer and Christchurch via the Lewis Pass we headed out of Nelson to the Golden Downs Golf Club, in the Waiiti Valley, midway between Nelson and Murchison. There were another couple already there - Maggie and Alan - who have lived in their caravan for 4 years. After our nights sleep (you can stay for free if paying green fees which are only $10 each) they invited us to join them for golf on Wednesday morning. Although Maggie hasn't played for some time because of the arthritis in her hands and hips she always walks around the course with Alan. On reflection I should have just walked around too as it is very hard to pay full attention to the good conversation and play at the same time. Hence the "up" I was feeling after my last game has turned into a "down". It had the same effect on Len. Alan is a good player and years ago used to coach one of the golf pros at our Omanu Club when the pro was a Junior.
The course itself initially looked flat and easy but, for men, one of the holes is the longest in the Southern Hemisphere at 627 metres, awaiting to be officially recognised.
The downside had to be the midgies - we were attacked all day and luckily Maggie shared her repellent with us as we had yet to buy some.
After lunch and a cup of tea with Maggie and Alan we hit the road again, stopping for a 20 minute walk along the old rail track at Kawatiri, enroute to Murchison.

We've never been to Murchison before so didn't know what to expect - it is apparently known as the whitewater capital of NZ and we have already seen lots of raft-covered trailers heading down to the river behind us. It only has a population of about 500 and the town is tiny but it does have a couple of Pubs and a 4 square Supermarket where the young lad was very helpful (I hope!) when I was looking to buy some mozzie repellent. I asked him which was the best and he said none of them were very good but I could try making my own. On asking him how to do that he ran down the aisle and came back with some babyoil and detol and told me to mix half and half and it'll keep all the bugs away. I already had some detol so only had to buy the babyoil and Len has already mixed some up into a tiny shampoo bottle. Am keen to try it now so we can report back.
The NZMCA has it's own new camp ground in Murchison for self contained vehicles - a huge sealed area with safe water provided. There are a lot of areas we have been where the water isn't potable. They only charge $2 a head and although there are 5 or 6 other vehicles here we can hardly see them the area is so big.