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Nov 14
Tue

Storm and heavy rain in Totaranui

In the morning we drop our plans of driving to the southwest and the south, including Milford Sound – we don't want to get in a hurry. Instead we decide to spend some more time in this area. We like it here. It's not easy leaving our wonderful campsite and Marahau, Park Cafe and Sandy Bay, but we also like to see the northern part of the Abel Tasman National Park. On the drive Ralph hoses the campervan while llama and alpaca sceptically keep an eye on him.

The llama are attentive.The llama are attentive. · more Abel Tasman NP pictures more pictures

We have a cappuccino at Park Cafe before we move on to Totaranui. There's no road through the Abel Tasman National Park. Winding across the mountains SH60 leads to the other end of the park within a 2 1/2 hours drive. The road is sealed until you arrive in Pohara at Golden Bay where another wide beach and rough rocks are part of the attracting scenery. Then the road turns gravel until Totaranui. It starts raining. After a drive across lowlands the road winds up the mountains and becomes more and more narrow and muddy and slippy (meanwhile rain is quite heavy). On the right is a rock face and on the left I look into a steep abyss lacking any guardrail. It's also stormy now and thick branches lie on the road here and there.

We hope no vehicle to come from the opposite direction and honk the horn before unclear curves (like people did in the Alpujarras in Spain), but for nothing. Exactly this happens – and without fail it happens right within a curve. The minibus is on the inner lane of the road and just keeps standing still. Obviously we are supposed to back. With our monster van and so close to the steep hillside. When we start again we slip backwards in the mud. I don't even look at it and Ralph, fortunately a cool driver, tells me afterwards we missed the edge by a hair's breadth.

Road to TotaranuiRoad to Totaranui · more Abel Tasman NP pictures more pictures

Here we go. A cutting through the rain forest, tree ferns over and over and misty fog. We are glad when it goes downhill again. In Totaranui is a spacious green DOC Campground close to the beach. We've arrived just in time – now storm and hard rain set in. There are only two other vehicles except ours. A DOC worker, just stopping by, shows me a sheltered place for the van and tells me not to park too close to the huge eucalyptus tree. In the radio news we hear that more southly, in Hanmer Springs, roofs fly away and Arthurs Pass is partly closed because of the thunderstorm. Obviously it was no bad idea to cancel the South as our way there would have led across precisely this pass.

The common room is closed, so we stay in the campervan. When rain stops we go for a walk on the beach. We see an Albatross and in the orange coloured sand sits a little crowd of Pied Shags. After the walk we warm canned chili. When we've finished our meal a girl tells us they were cooking for a larger group and asks if we like to join them. How nice this is :-)

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