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The sound of rain pouring outside was the first thing I head this morning. It wasn't until we'd showered and packed that we drew back the curtains and regretted not taking pictures of the mountain scenery we could see yesterday from our window. Today, sadly, it had been replaced by thick rainclouds.

I have been suffering from an infection for a little over a week now which I cleverly have been treating with our anti-malarial pills. I had decided that it was time I sought medical attention and having spotted that I would received 10 per cent discount for being a YHA member I took to the local medical centre in Wanaka. An appointment was made and I was to wait for 45 minutes so in that time we did some shopping. We decided to spend some real money and booked ourselves on a days Wilderness Cruise with Real Journeys to Doubtful Sound on Christmas Day, a whopping NZD 380! And we don't even get lunch! Ian selected some nacho cheese tortillas and spicy chilli dip for our Christmas Day picnic from the supermarket. How festive this Christmas would be! Back at the medical centre I received excellent service from Dr David Allen at Wanaka Medical Centre who, having spent many minutes with me establishing the problem, with us double guessing the medication I have received in the past, packed me off with three prescriptions to make me better. With prescription in hand I charged in to the pharmacy to exchange paper and more money for pills.

We spent some time in Puzzle World, an attraction of illusions which was a bit of a disappointment but should reveal a couple of good photographs.

We ate a quick picnic lunch by the lakeside whereby a tiny bird chose to land on the wing mirror of the car next to my open window and then we left for Te Anau.

We stopped in Arrowtown in search of the location of a scene from Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring but couldn't find it. Arrowtown hasn't yet caught on to the potential tourism revenue and we decided not to search for two other locations near to Queenstown in the expectation that they too would be unidentifiable.

We drove in an out of Queenstown and having passed the Remarkables, a mountain range which featured in Lord of the Rings as the Misty Mountains, we drove to Te Anau, where we stay for two nights.

We saw four or five falcons soaring above the road today, they are incredible birds. Our journey from Wanaka to Te Anau covered 271 kilometres.

Te Anau is a nice town with a beautiful setting. Considering it's the eve before Christmas Eve it is surprisingly quiet. The streets are pretty bare despite there being several coaches parked in town. The tourists must be in restaurants or motel rooms but where are all the locals?

We have agreed not to set the alarm tomorrow for the first time this trip! We are both knackered and require some catch up sleep. Hopefully the noisy blighters who are making noise slamming doors in the hostel will have gone early tomorrow morning or equally chosen to lie in...