Wild but dry!

The storm continued through the evening and on into the night. Our experiences in our caravan meant that we knew what to expect with regard to noise levels and that was just as well. The rain came down in buckets, troughs, baths and torrents, with large cats and reasonably sized dogs being seen falling past the windows. We were on a hard standing pitch at a campsite close to the centre of Whangerai and sat and anxiously watched the water flowing across the ground on its way to the stream running along the edge of the site. We discovered from the site owners the following morning that parts of the site had actually been flooded.

This is the second semi-tropical storm that New Zealand has experienced in the last week (you will recall we had flown into New Zealand clutching the tail-end of the last one) and everyone we have spoken to has been taken aback by their intensity. Bert got in to conversation with the man in the caravan next to us who firmly placed the blame on climate change and who can argue with that. As he said it doesn't matter what the cause is – it is definitely happening.

We went to say our farewells at the site office to be told that there were problems on the roads to both the north and south. It sounded as if we would have not been able to get out of the Bay of Islands if we had delayed our departure until today. We were also warned that they understood that there were problems on the SH1 (the main road south to Auckland) but they had no specific details. The flood waters in the fields and spontaneous roadside waterfalls, once we had set off, were extensive so we knew we would have to be vigilant.

We passed two or three landslips and then saw a sign that said that the SH1 was actually closed and that we would have to go round by SH16, a fairly significant detour which was likely to add at least an hour on to our journey. However further time was added on when we had to queue to pass across a piece of road that had been washed out. The Araparera river was now actually flowing over the road here (as well as into all the surrounding fields) and there was only one lane passable. 

By the looks of the queues the other side we were lucky to be delayed by only 45 minutes. The other factor in slowing our progress was the high winds which, when you are driving a vehicle with the aerodynamics of a brick, have to be given a great deal of respect.

When we eventually got back on to the SH1 the wind was still an issue and crossing Auckland Bridge was an experience we would prefer not to repeat, apparently the views are great but not at the top of our list of priorities at the time.

We made good time south of Auckland and soon arrived at our destination in Bombay (not Mumbai). This was our first use of our membership of the Native Parks Motorhome Havens (http://www.nativeparks.co.nz/) and we are staying tonight at the Simunovich Olive Estate and Bracu Restaurant. We had a late lunch in the restaurant, listening to a live guitarist. The food was excellent, the presentation reminded us of the meal we had had at the gourmet restaurant at Chaumont Garden Festival a few years ago. Having paid the bill we decided to eat in the 'van in the evening!

The weather is still blustery but bright and sunny. Fingers crossed that's the end of it.