Parnassus

Sticking to our plan of keeping our traveling from place to place under two hours we headed south from Kaikoura. Less than an hour later we arrived at a small settlement named Parnassus. It's on the east coast of the South Island, between Kaikoura and Christchurch. In 2008 the Parnassus school closed and is now used by the NZMCA as a park for members. There's oodles of space to park on the grass but after a long stretch of wet weather the grass was very wet. Like most campers, we stuck to the concrete area to avoid getting get stuck.

Parnassus seems an unusual name, so I did a little research and discovered ... Many years ago, a local sheep run owner, Edward Lee, noticed a likeness between a local hill and the sacred Mount Parnassus in central Greece. It was Edward Lee who named the area Parnassus.

As I mentioned it's a small area so there wasn't a lot to explore. 

The nearby paddocks were covered with round baleage. I'm guessing these bales will be wrapped, before being carted away to be stored. Eventually they'll be used as feed for stock.

Other paddocks looked ready to be mown. After being cut, the fields will be raked and then baled.

If we visited this area in a month or so, this wild apple tree, growing along the roadside, will be ready for picking. Yum, nothing like sweet, crispy, spray-free apples!

Noticing the forecasted storm approaching, we headed back to camp. That night we drifted off to sleep to the sound of thunder and rain. Bliss.