A Wrong Turn - Day Four
It was still raining when I woke up at the DOC camp at Mt. Holdsworth. I moved the van into the relative shelter of a small building where I could cook in relative dryness. A few other people where about but soon left. I had a boil up and made breakfast and hit the road in search of somewhere sunny.
Back on the main road I headed North and came to Danyverke. I stopped here for diesel and got directions to a free, secluded camp spot from the station attendant. I visited the heated indoor pools (Wai Splash) for a swim and a shower then headed un up the road to Norsewood, a little town with Scandinavian roots. Nearby I located Aztec Park, a free camping spot that looked good.
I settled in and got comfortable. I was warm and dry. Everything was good. Then I did something that quickly started to feel like a bad idea.
I was getting bored so I decided to start driving (to get away from the rain) and to locate a point someone had marked on the map. It was raining hard, the road was busy with end of week travellers returning home. The van was acting strangely (because it was so windy and I was pushing it due to queues behind me). I was low on gas and paranoid of running out in this horrible weather. Somehow I go to a town too soon and mistook it for somewhere else. I made a wrong turn and headed out to the coast. The road was long, windy and very wet.
Things were going ok, taking it slowly and just watching the traffic in front. Then I realised that the cars had stopped and I managed to break before rear-ending someone. People were involved in pulling someone out of a puddle.
Trees were down, floodwaters rising. Things were looking pretty rough. I limped out to the coast and hunkered down under a tree. When I assessed the map and the place names I had been passing I realised that I had come a long way of course and was not where I had intended.
I entered another long night of wind and rain. The sea was thundering, brown and white, somewhere in the darkness behind me.
