Tuesday, August 16th
No nightmares for me last night. Can't say the same for AJ who woke bolt upright, probably steering us away from some cliff in his dreams. AJ woke first and packed up the camper, while I hunkered down in the double comforter, plus sleeping bag lair.
AJ drove to Mangamaunu and stepped outside to check the surf. He was gone too long for it to be right. When he returned, he said, "There needs to be a little more light on it."
And I asked if he wanted his headlamp. He crawled back into bed to wait for sunrise. At sunrise, he went back out. It was big and disorganized. Winds ripping and not so inviting. I made mushroom and cheese omelets, and AJ made coffee. We were giving the surf a little time to get itself in order. Besides the road south was still closed, and an update wasn't due until 9am. Manga's did not get organized and the winds didn't suddenly cooperate either. We drove to Meatworks to check the surf there; it was even bigger and disorganized.
So back into town...to wait for news of the roads and to sample another cafe. Two mochas and a shared bagel later and we were off to explore Kiakoura's south peninsula and bay. We saw heaps of seals!!! They are freaking adorable. All wiggly and bounce. We had made a seal friend at Manga's. He/she may have been sick, or if a she, possibly pregnant. Let's call him/her Sam. Sam was sprawled out on the beach the first afternoon we checked the surf. AJ almost walked right into him/her, and Sam barely picked his/her head up. I was wishing I had some seal rescue knowledge at that moment. The next day, we thought Sam was gone, but we found him/her camped out under a tree, and we saw a smaller seal coming in from the ocean to be with him/her. I accidentally scared the little seal because I was so excited to see it swim onto shore and jump onto a piece of driftwood. Apparently, Sam was gone today. Perhaps feeling better or having birthed some seal pups. I don't want to consider any of the less cheery versions.
But back to Kaikoura...we saw hundreds of seals around the southern peninsula. There were a few at Keen Point and horde of them relaxing on rocks as we took the footpath to Whale Bay. There were also several signs reminding you to keep ten meters from the seals. 10 meter! I was way closer to Sam at Manga's each time we saw each other.
A light drizzle was starting to fall so we hurried back to the camper and drove around the other side of the peninsula, and then we decided to see where the road actually closed. The national weather and transportation websites said Rt 1 was closed, but when we approached, a man with an official looking fluorescent orange vest told us the road was open. Woot!
As we headed south, snow began to litter to pastures, and we past sheep with a dusting of snow on their backs. Soon we were chugging up our first mountain pass; it was a bit slick, but AJ kept the camper in 3rd gear primarily. One mountain pass down.
We stopped in Cheviot for gas, and the clerk assured us we were one of the first few. The road had been closed for almost days. He didn't think Arthur's Pass, the road to the snow fields, was open, but we planned to go to Christchurch first to see about our GoPro.
An hour later we were cruising Christchurch, even passed a store that claimed to be "The World's Largest Gun Store." Really? Christchurch, NZ?
Unfortunately, Southern Approach was not open and we weren't able to have our GoPro fixed or replaced. I should mention that the last help email I received was totally shitty, and customer service is going to hear about my dissatisfaction with their product and their online support staff when I return to the states. On their contrary, their phone staff is quite helpful and pleasant.
It was difficult to leave Christchurch, as many roads were blocked off or detoured as a result of the quakes. And many of the motels and hotels displayed no vacancy signs, which indicated displaced folks may be living there now.
We finally found our way to 73 and began the snowy trek toward Arthur's Pass. We knew the road would be closed around Springfield and decided to get as far as we could. And we have.
We're parked on the side of the road at the western edge of Springfield, a few meters from the last gas station, pub, and convenience stores for hundreds of kilometers. It's the last rest stop of sorts before one arrives at the ski clubs. But we're not going anywhere tonight, and we may not be going anywhere tomorrow. The road is officially closed here, and even AJ conceded that it's not safe to push further in our camper van. If we were in the Element, well, that's another story.
We emptied our grey and black water and refilled the fresh water tank before we left Kaikoura. And we've stocked up on propane for our heater. So we're in an ideal condition to be stranded here, though Kiakoura was a much better town to hang out it. It even had a secondhand book store!
But there's a pub, which probably serves fish and chips and pies, AJ's NZ grub favs, and I'm sure the convenience store sells chocolate, the only necessity we're running low on (only one bar left).
Off to read with our headlamps.
No comments:
Post a Comment