Punakaiki

One of the things I love about living in New Zealand is that at the drop of a hat you can toss together a short 3 day break to places like this:

There had been a howling southerly on Sunday night.  There was a definite dripping sound on our ceiling beneath the tarp on the roof where our chimney used to be.  I noticed the ceiling panel was starting to warp and bulge ominously.  A bead of water formed near the join of two panels.  Suddenly I felt very vulnerable and insecure.  A flurry of aftershocks (a wibble of wobbles perhaps?) over the weekend hadn’t helped. 
I plugged in some earphones and listened to music and tried not to think too hard about it.  The rain got heavier during the night.  The wind blew the rain hard against our bedroom window.  I tried to bury myself deeper under the covers. 

In the morning, there was fresh snow on the mountains, which was a good excuse not to be ready too early in the morning.  The wind was still bitter. 
Hot chips at Springfield helped everyone feel better.
The mountains were spectacular with the first snow dusting of the season.


I told the children to “soak it in with your eyes”.

Once over the main divide we came into open blue skies and brilliant sunshine.  Truly the West Coast at its best.

It went very quiet in the back seat.

I felt a strange tightening in my cheeks at the corner of my mouth.  It has been far too long since I last came here.


This is one of my favourite parts of New Zealand.  Hubby observed that I was getting “energised” about this place.  Just you wait – it’s his first visit here and I’m sure by the end of three days he’ll be just as much in love with it as I am.