Te Anau

 It was time to relax after our Milford Sound hijinks.  So we decided to partake in some free camping at Te Anau.

An absolutely gorgeous spot.  A pine forest and a huge lake surrounded by snow capped mountains.

There were a few other people with the same idea, but there was plenty of space for everyone.

We found a really great place to tuck Ni-Van in for the night.

It was such a beautiful spot.

Romain even braved an icy dip in the pristine waters!

We were about to settle down for an afternoon drink and then we had the great idea to drive Ni-Van down onto the pebbly beach for a photo shoot.

Great photos.  HUGE mistake.

We happily snapped away for a good while then decided we'd captured enough and it was time to drive Ni-Van back to his nook in amongst the pines.

Except we weren't going anywhere.

Ni-Van was bogged.  While the van had driven fine onto the beach, it was not interested at all in exiting the beach.

The tyres spun and pebbles flew but there was no forward motion.

We dug away as many of the pebbles as we could and scavenged for solid wood to make a track.  I gunned the engine while Romain pushed.

After about 45 minutes of this, exhaustion and mild panic began to set in.  We weren't going to get out of there by ourselves.  We needed to find more pushing power.

So we walked back along the road to where we had seen a van parked.  We found a lovely German couple who were enjoying a quiet afternoon by the lake.  But not for long.  After explaining our predicament, they said they were more than happy to help a couple of nincompoops out of a pickle.

With three pushers, we had more luck.  The wheels spun and we finally got traction!  With a few jerks and splutters, Ni-Van was freed from the pebbly trap.

We were so deeply grateful to our two new friends!

We celebrated our victory with many sunset whiskies together on the beach.

Re-fueling after the adventure with beer and chips.