Up not so bright and early due to the comfy bed and possibly the wine . Graham therefore needed the full English breakfast (well we cannot do our own breakfast as staying in an hotel). Popped downtown for supplies of bottled water as had been advised none on the mountain to refill bottles due to drought. What did they do with all the rain the other night? 
Started the 4 hour walk from our hotel to Dawson Falls for a coffee stop. This section was through bush with hundreds of steps plus clambering over tree roots. Despite being much harder than the classified ‘moderate’ we managed to complete this section in under the designated NZ time which must be a first. Next section to plateau car park was much nicer with only a few streams to traverse. Lovely views and we then descended via the road as we didn't fancy any more tree roots to trip over. Off to town for supper to try out a local hostelry.