The Sounds

There were lots of puddles about and it was still raining when we left the farmers POP on Monday morning. Too wet to play on the Wairau Valley Golf Course! It didn't seem to take us long to drive through Renwick and then on up to Havelock via the same road we had travelled early on in our trip when we were en-route to Nelson from Blenheim. Just different conditions - rain and very brown paddocks but lots of green vineyards , instead of the sun we had last time.
Not much to see in the way of views because of the mist so we decided to have a lazy day and went almost straight to the Havelock camping ground where we just holed up for the day with our books and puzzles. We were rather surprised to see more Kiwis in the campground rather than the usual tourists but maybe it is coming towards the end of the overseas visitor season and it is now time for all the local retirees to go on holiday.
It is still raining today which is great for the farmers although they need a lot more with the ground still being very dry a cm from the surface.

A wet Torea Bay Jetty

A wet Portage waterfront

We have driven up the windy and hilly Kerepuni Road alongside Kenepuri Sound today as far as Portage which can be a stopover for those walking the Queen Charlotte Track. While there we walked along the road and over the hill from Portage in Cowshed Bay to Torea Bay which is in the Queen Charlotte Sound. It was quite windy on that side of the Sounds with the Southerly blowing in. Because of the weather we opted not to do any more walking or stay at the DOC camp up there and have returned to a waterside free parking area for up to 4 vans at Ohingaroa Bay - a nice little sheltered spot where we have gleaned some local information from a man who lives just along the road and does boat trips for tourists.