What if I told you that you'd get to wake up in the middle of the night to move your tent out of a growing lake of rain? Just another bit to add to Jim Gaffigan's camping jokes. haha.
Yep, that was us last night. We drove into Te Kaha with a clear sky and the sun out and went to bed and could see stars. Then not 45 minutes later I think, it just started pouring down. We couple figure out why it sounded like someone was spraying the tent with a hose, or to hear splashing as the rain fell. We both looked out our sides of the tent and didn't see anything of concern. Then Dustin put his hand on the tent bottom where our feet were and it may as well have been a waterbed! So, luckily there was a pause in the storm so up we got and sussed out a drier site. We threw the heavier items into the car and then carried the tent across the way and put everything back inside. Then we laid there for more than an hour or two trying to sleep amidst lightning that was so crazy you would notice it clearly even when your eyes were shut! And some massive thunder too. We kept entertained by adding lines to this Jim Gaffigan joke about camping.
But we awoke this morning to sunshine and had breakfast alongside a couple from New Plymouth! They are the second set of people we've met along the way from there.
We ended up staying 5 nights at the farm I last mentioned and we left there in a big rainstorm as well. We had a nice time and got to experience some of the coolest things - like needing a lemon for your recipe and walking outside, barefoot in soft grass, to pick a lemon from the tree and bring it inside to juice. Then throwing the rind out the door back into the yard. haha. So from there we went into Gisborne where the surf was supposed to be on but not a lot was happening. We stayed out of town one night and then in town the next night before leaving. We picked up lots of goodies from the farmer's market and then head up the east cape coast. We thought we'd spend a couple days through there but it didn't really strike us enough so we kept cruising. I think because we're from BC, and because we've been in NZ for a long time now, we've pretty much seen most of the amazing views and scenery. So people will tell us a place is just gorgeous and we'll think it's nice but not like mind blowing or anything. That's what the east cape was like. Some sunshine might have helped the cause a bit but oh well.
We're now in the Bay of Plenty region - renamed the "Bay of Plenty Rain" after last night. This is a very popular area for Kiwis and international travellers alike to holiday in because there are lots of beaches and scenery to enjoy. We have a couple things we want to get looked at on the car so since we're only a couple hundred kms from Auckland there's lots more to choose from and a lot more supply around so it's a good spot to get things sorted. We plan to be here for maybe about a week. We cancelled our second WWOOFing stop that was supposed to be up here because we just didn't think we'd have time to fit that in. We need to get back to Auckland fairly soon to let someone test drive our car. It's the son of our WWOOFing host from Dunedin and we had spoken about it when we were there. He wants to have another look and then we'll hopefully have him lined up for the end of March when we leave. It would be a massive stress off the books if that is arranged and we don't even have to post the car at all. So keep our fingers crossed!!
Anyways, we have some plans to make for Australia so this will be all for now!
Anyone who is wondering, as you can tell, we were not physically affected by the earthquake in Christchurch earlier this week. Emotionally though, well we were pretty glued to the news for the first couple days and then we haven't had a TV after we left the farm. But it's devastating to see the city in ruins. Dustin's boss is ok, we've been in touch with him. Very sad stuff but it is amazing the way the country pulls together to support people here. Even just things like putting out a call for people to offer beds to anyone who has been displaced from the earthquake, and on the first day when flights were cancelled.
We should be back in mobile reception for the next two weeks I reckon - although as we learned on the east coast, places that don't seem remote don't always have reception. So if you've been trying to text or call it should be easier to work out now. Talk to you soon!
Yep, that was us last night. We drove into Te Kaha with a clear sky and the sun out and went to bed and could see stars. Then not 45 minutes later I think, it just started pouring down. We couple figure out why it sounded like someone was spraying the tent with a hose, or to hear splashing as the rain fell. We both looked out our sides of the tent and didn't see anything of concern. Then Dustin put his hand on the tent bottom where our feet were and it may as well have been a waterbed! So, luckily there was a pause in the storm so up we got and sussed out a drier site. We threw the heavier items into the car and then carried the tent across the way and put everything back inside. Then we laid there for more than an hour or two trying to sleep amidst lightning that was so crazy you would notice it clearly even when your eyes were shut! And some massive thunder too. We kept entertained by adding lines to this Jim Gaffigan joke about camping.
But we awoke this morning to sunshine and had breakfast alongside a couple from New Plymouth! They are the second set of people we've met along the way from there.
We ended up staying 5 nights at the farm I last mentioned and we left there in a big rainstorm as well. We had a nice time and got to experience some of the coolest things - like needing a lemon for your recipe and walking outside, barefoot in soft grass, to pick a lemon from the tree and bring it inside to juice. Then throwing the rind out the door back into the yard. haha. So from there we went into Gisborne where the surf was supposed to be on but not a lot was happening. We stayed out of town one night and then in town the next night before leaving. We picked up lots of goodies from the farmer's market and then head up the east cape coast. We thought we'd spend a couple days through there but it didn't really strike us enough so we kept cruising. I think because we're from BC, and because we've been in NZ for a long time now, we've pretty much seen most of the amazing views and scenery. So people will tell us a place is just gorgeous and we'll think it's nice but not like mind blowing or anything. That's what the east cape was like. Some sunshine might have helped the cause a bit but oh well.
We're now in the Bay of Plenty region - renamed the "Bay of Plenty Rain" after last night. This is a very popular area for Kiwis and international travellers alike to holiday in because there are lots of beaches and scenery to enjoy. We have a couple things we want to get looked at on the car so since we're only a couple hundred kms from Auckland there's lots more to choose from and a lot more supply around so it's a good spot to get things sorted. We plan to be here for maybe about a week. We cancelled our second WWOOFing stop that was supposed to be up here because we just didn't think we'd have time to fit that in. We need to get back to Auckland fairly soon to let someone test drive our car. It's the son of our WWOOFing host from Dunedin and we had spoken about it when we were there. He wants to have another look and then we'll hopefully have him lined up for the end of March when we leave. It would be a massive stress off the books if that is arranged and we don't even have to post the car at all. So keep our fingers crossed!!
Anyways, we have some plans to make for Australia so this will be all for now!
Anyone who is wondering, as you can tell, we were not physically affected by the earthquake in Christchurch earlier this week. Emotionally though, well we were pretty glued to the news for the first couple days and then we haven't had a TV after we left the farm. But it's devastating to see the city in ruins. Dustin's boss is ok, we've been in touch with him. Very sad stuff but it is amazing the way the country pulls together to support people here. Even just things like putting out a call for people to offer beds to anyone who has been displaced from the earthquake, and on the first day when flights were cancelled.
We should be back in mobile reception for the next two weeks I reckon - although as we learned on the east coast, places that don't seem remote don't always have reception. So if you've been trying to text or call it should be easier to work out now. Talk to you soon!
I'm glad you guys are safe :-)
ReplyDeleteI remember camping up at Manning and we were evacuated b/c the river was growing and coming super close to our tent. It's similar to your story except that a river was created! ha ha. Must've been crazy!