After leaving a very snowy Lake Tekapo, we headed over Burkes Pass and shortly after Geraldine, took the Inland Scenic Route 72. We stopped at the General Store in Mount Somers – a fabulous old fashioned store where we indulged in a steak pie! Our next stop was at the Rakaia Gorge Lookout – my that bit of the road was steep! Huge parking area allows you to have a good look around, there is a walkway you can take down to the river and some great info boards explain about the area and the Taniwha that guards the gorge and the bridge. There is a beautifully carved pou of the Taniwha here as well as a poem about the winds that blow through the gorge. The views here are spectacular, especially of the braided river after the bridge. Our last stop on this part of the route is Oxford where we stayed the night and celebrated my birthday watching the rugby with a beer! We had some very tasty pies from the World Famous Sheffield Pies https://sheffieldpies.co.nz/ and really great flat whites and scones from Cafe 51 https://cafe51nz.com/