I don't know if we mentioned that we were lucky enough to get tickets to an All Blacks rugby game in Auckland on the 15th. The required that we high-tail it up to Auckland from the South Island in a little time as we felt we could spare. We were told to be at the ferry at 9:30 for the 10:45 crossing. We are there at 9:15, and first in line for the campers. It felt like it took ages to unload and load. First the train cars were driven on, then the trucks, cars and finally the campers and a few stragglers. The crossing itself was very uneventful. We sailed out of a very long sound with plenty of scenery on either side. The open ocean had very minor swells and in no time we were curing around the point into Wellington Harbour.
Off the ferry - onto the motorway and out of Wellington bound for a campground in Turinga at the bottom of lake Tuapo, about 3-4 hours North. We picked it because it was about where we thought we'd get when it was just turning dark. We had to cross an infamous piece of highway called the desert road. It is the road that will close if any nasty weather is about. We drove the curvy, slippery road in the dark, in the driving rain, but at least we were able to follow a truck. Trucks are good omens for driving. You can blame the truck if you're driving too slow. And, as confirmed by locals that night, truckers know where to go and when to slow down and speed up. We survived, but it a nail biting evening.
No comments:
Post a Comment