Rain, Rain & More Rain

Well it has torrentially rained for 28 hours solid now & we have had the park to ourselves since early this morning when the two cars left.  No one has been silly enough to arrive this afternoon and now we’re even wondering if the road is accessible. Thankfully there were no fords that we crossed to get here. That we can remember.  David took a drive down to the bridge that we crossed to make sure all was ok that far down, & it was.

Yesterday before the heavy rain started I took these photos of the Tairua river which flows past the campsite.

 

 

This morning I put on my rain gear & my gumboots and walked over to the river to see how far it had come up. I was kind of expecting a raging torrent but it was a surprise to see how much it had changed since last night. I was too scared to venture right down to the edge in case I slipped but David took me down to the bridge later in the day to get a shot too.

 

 

Our fresh water tanks are full to overflowing & David has filled every available receptacle we have onboard & still he is collecting it; so much water going to waste. Well in fact it’s not going to waste really; the bush will be lapping it up. Mini waterfalls are flowing all over the place & the blackbirds & thrushes are having a ball. It's not getting too boggy so the rain must be soaking in, we’re just hoping the gravel tracks out of here to the road will be fine by tomorrow. And that there have been no slips caused by the soaking. I guess if you’re reading this we’ve made it back to civilization.

Once we had our awning fully extended & tied down it provided a great shelter for us. I had lots of things to do inside that I’d be saving for a rainy day & David did what he’d be dying to do for many days; clean the ute! Well why not make use of the rain although he used the hose on the campsite water tap. But at least the rain helped rinse it off afterwards.

This camping business is swings & roundabouts, it’s all about balancing out your resources so you’re not running out of necessary supplies  that would make for a miserable few hours or days. If it’s sunny, you have heaps of solar power pumping in, so using electrical devices isn’t a problem but then you have to watch your water use(if there are no taps nearby), short showers, shallow sinks, flush for #2s only etc, etc. 

If it’s raining you can top up your tanks & have a longer shower but then if you’re not plugged in it can’t be too long, that pump uses precious electricity & there’s no sun to restore the supply. The best option is to be plugged in at a campground with a hose tap nearby (& internet supply freely available) but where’s the fun in that. My happy day is when  we’re leaving a powered camp site & visiting their dump station on the way out. I can have a one long hot continuous shower because the water can be topped up. Power is no problem for the water pump, & if the grey water tank fills? That's no problem either, empty it on the way out!

It’s now 6pm & it’s still raining heavy, the forecast is for a lull tomorrow morning & then heavy rain again so we’re hoping we can make a break for it before it sets back in again. We’ll definitely be coming back here at some stage to finish our exploring.