rom Invercargill north to Lumsden, the road takes you through areas predominantly given to mixed farming. Just past Winton on State Highway 6, the road forks. The road to the left (State Highway 96) arcs in a wide sweep towards the foot-hills of the Takitimu Mountains, past the old coalmining towns of Nightcaps and Ohai, then south again to Tuatapere, and eventually back to Invercargill via Riverton.

State Highway 6, on the other hand, continues almost straight ahead, crossing the sheep and dry-stock farming country on the western side of the Hokonui Hills, of illicit liquor fame, then across the Waimea Plains to Lumsden. A couple of kilometres past Lumsden turn left onto State Highway 94 for Te Anau.

Just north of Mossburn, the first town past Lumsden, is a very large colony of black-billed gulls, a species once confined mainly to the South Island. The colony has several thousand birds and in early summer is a hive of activity with dozens of birds returning with food for their squawking chicks. Spur-winged plovers breed in pairs within sight of the road, but don't go too close - they can be aggressive.

From Mossburn the road crosses a plain, passes over the Mararoa River and then climbs into the rainshadow area of the eastern foothills of the alps to the once rabbit-infested plain called the Wilderness. The rabbits are no longer in their former numbers, but there are still many signs of the damage they inflicted. Areas of low-growing scrub and bog pine predominate with plenty of spinous piripiri, which does well in rabbit country.

From here the scenery changes dramatically as the road moves into the high mountains, but it is not until one arrives at the shore of Lake Manapouri that the full grandeur of the country becomes apparent.

Lake Manapouri is often described as our most beautiful lake. This claim has been made about many lakes in the South Island, but after travelling across the dry, dusty plains from the east, the effect of arriving suddenly on its shores is stunning.

Before you lies a vast expanse of silvered water with small, bush-clad islands scattered about like gems, and beyond it all, as the perfect backdrop, the frieze of the Fiordland mountains. No matter how sunny the weather an air of moody, brooding beauty hangs over Manapouri, accentuated by the dark forested fringe running along the shores.