Last night, Dan, the weatherman, forecast severe
winds for Canterbury. We knew if things got too breezy we could bring in the
slide-ins and lower the TV dish. However the mechanism to lower the dish is activated when the truck moves, so we needed to hitch up to the truck.While we were hitching up, we decided we might as
well pack up and move on. After all, we’d only planned to stay a week at
Weedons and 14 days later we were still there.
A few people had suggested ‘Wakanui Beach’ as a nice
place to stay. It’s east of Ashburton, near the mouth of the Ashburton River - right
on the foreshore. It would be our first taste of freedom camping.
About an hour down the road we were there. This time
we took our time choosing a spot. We checked where north was so we were facing
the right way for TV reception (not that we’d put the dish up for the first
night with the predicted severe winds). Secondly we found a level spot that was
facing the correct way for the expected wind.
That done, we set up. With breath-taking sea views and
not a living soul in sight, we sat down to enjoy a relaxing cuppa. It was then
I realized we had no cell phone coverage. Eeek, would that mean no Internet
too?
So, not only was it to be our first freedom camping
experience, it was also the first place we’ve been without Internet. Bernie
didn’t think I’d last long.
 |
| The view from the dining room windows. |
The beach was definitely inviting – isolated with
crashing waves. So I took the dogs for a walk. We stumbled across a seal lazing
on the grass bank. He didn’t seem too bothered by us and the dogs knew to leave
him/her alone.
While we were getting dinner ready, a Chilean tourist
with limited English appeared. He had parked further along and locked his keys
in his car. He said he hopped out of his car to shut the passenger door properly and as he did the wind slammed the driver's door closed. The keys were in the ignition and all the doors had locked. So it was Bernie to the rescue.
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting on the couch with a
view of the Pacific Ocean. The sky is cloaked in dark grey cloud with small
patches of white. I’m hoping for a stunning sunset but it looks to be too
cloudy.
I can hear the sea. Every few seconds it seems to be
louder as waves thunder against the shore. I wish I had a way with words, like
poets have. This place would be paradise for anyone wanting time alone, time to
think, to write and/or to have a break.
And to compliment the sound of the sea are birds twittering
as they settle in for the night. I’ve seen ducks in a tiny lagoon beside us,
and have noticed swallows and sea birds. But I’m yet to identify which ones are
chirping up a storm.
And speaking of storms … there isn’t any sign of the
predicted wild winds. In fact there’s hardly a breeze. Or could it be ‘the calm
before the storm?’
Fast forward 24 hours …
The severe wind has past, and it’s still darn windy
and cold outside at the moment.
I woke at 4am and decided the wind must have gone
around us, then half an hour later, boom, it hit. Once we had pulled the
slide-ins in, the noise lessened and we were able to sleep until sunrise. By
then it had eased and we were in for a sunny day.
The sea was rough but other than that there was no
evidence that a storm had blown through. And that night we were treated to a stunning sunset.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave a comment - I'd love to hear from you.