No pictures today, due to the weather bomb thrown at our little country, and driving to the conditions the only focus. Not to mention there is no point in taking pictures of a blank image! (A sheet of rain through windscreen wipers)
The weather forecasters are finally getting it right and yesterday’s sunshine turned into rain and gale force winds as predicted!
Thelma and Louise bid our wonderful last nights hosts farewell at 10am (actually 9am in real time as we lost an hour to daylight saving) and drove off into the sunset (into the morning rain) from Whakatane. Sunday visits planned for our Tauranga and Katikati friends, but conditions prohibited any stops as we navigated our way north with heavy hearts, avoiding toll roads and getting used to other vehicles sharing the (very wet) road with us!
One plus was an extremely dirty car got a good wash(a luxury in Auckland with water restrictions) with road surface puddles and torrential downpours. At one point Thelma (driving) and Louise (navigating) had their noses glued to the front windscreen, unable to see the taillights of the horse truck in front or the side of the road to pull over as a blanket of wind and rain engulfed the vehicle. 40kms per hour on the open road, not cool and not fun…not sure what Louises eyes were going to do, but we survived the Hauraki plains intact, by now a stream of returning weekenders heading home.
Last chance to turn south before the Auckland boundary was very tempting as we headed back to (yawn) third world issues of work, laundry, cooking and caregiving!
All good things must come to an end (for now), and after 4000ks, many towns, new friends and old friends, amazing NZ scenery, roadworks, beaches, pubs, food choice and new (charity shop) clothes we hit suburbia.
We all need a break from reality and the time to make new plans and imagine new dreams….
A room without a view and the juggling of everyday activities before the sun goes down on a day closer to our 60 years on this planet!
All who wander are not Lost girls 