Well Mr Bobscoot, thank you for offering to send good weather after my rainbow post but it arrived a bit late for which I hold the NZ Quarantine Service personally responsible. A strongly-worded letter will be sent off forthwith.
We continued to have cloudbursts but by the next morning, it had eased to showers. Just as well as we had arranged to drive the 160 km to Hamilton. Thankfully, this was not a bike trip. Our neighbours are going to make us stained glass windows for part of the house and we went down in our 4x4 with them to buy the glass we needed. The weather was lovely in Hamilton, we had a fine time choosing the glass, followed by a sumptuous lunch and were about to head back to Coromandel when my phone rang. It was another neighbour and his call went like this, "We're having a severe storm on the Coromandel Peninsula, there's been torrential rain all day and the west coast road is flooded in several places. Oh, and you can't come up the Eastern side of the Peninsula either because there's both flooding and 2 big slips"
So, with some words that would cause my late mother to scrub my mouth out with soap, we head back to see how far we can get. It all seems a bit bizarre as the weather is still lovely in Hamilton. As we approach Thames, the gateway to the Peninsula; the sky turns from blue to almost pitch black and the rain starts to fall heavily. A quick stop at the information centre confirms that we're stuck so the 4 of us check into a motel. A quick visit to the local supermarket to stock up on cheeses, French bread, salami, wine (several bottles), breakfast goodies and so on sees us set for the night!
This morning, the weather is clear and calm and a phone call to our rural mail delivery driver reveals that the slips will take a while to clear but the water has subsided from the most direct route as he's been down the coast to the regional mail centre at first light. Caution is advised as there are mini-slips and tree debris but we should be fine with a bit of care.
So, here we are.... arrived safely home an hour ago in dire need of a shower, shave and change of clothes. After that, I must appease the NZ Weather Gods. I'm undecided whether it should be setting fire to the Triumph or telling the Weather Gods to pick on Bobscoot for offering to send Canadian weather over here!
Setting fire to the Trumpy should be the last resort! Unthinkable!
ReplyDeleteAnd be careful what Canadian weather you get...
Hi Andrew:
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think you're right. A certain Canadian might prove to be the better sacrifice :-)
Geoff:
ReplyDeleteWe have also had major flooding on the Canadian prairies from Alberta to Saskatchewan. Torrential rains which must have overtaken the sun gods.
and don't sacrifice your Triumph, put it in a crate instead and send it over. I will keep it running for you and keep recycling the gas in the tank to keep it in tip top condition. You can thank me later.
it's a good thing you managed to get home and cleaned up. you can only hold your nose for so long
bob
bobskoot: wet coast scootin
Your generosity knows no bounds Bob. It's a kind and tempting offer if we can perhaps organise some reciprocal arrangement with your Corvette. I'll do my level best to keep it out of the hands of the Law. No need to thank me either.
ReplyDeleteWow, that looks scary. Glad you made it home safely. I didn't know that the weather on the North Island can become that nasty. Hence, I will postpone my return to NZ until your summer has returned...
ReplyDeleteSonja:
ReplyDeleteThank you! We normally get one "weather bomb" on the Peninsula each winter and it's almost always with an easterly wind. 3 years ago, we'd been to Sydney and returned to a full-blown gale. Had to drive up the coast road in the dark with waves partially breaking over the road. That WAS scary. Never again....