Late mornings and hazy days

After such an exhilarating and inspirational 51 days of on-the-go adventures, we are conscious that we don’t burn out before going on a thirty-seven hour journey home on Saturday, so we planned a later start.  The weather was pretty abysmal, it had been raining all night and hadn’t let up at all in the morning. 

It made sense to start sorting out some of our gear while we couldn’t do much outside.  If we could get some done then it wouldn’t be all day tomorrow as the Sandd Van also needed cleaning.  With the weather not to dry up until late evening, just pottering around seemed the perfect activity.  This went on all morning then suddenly it was 13:00 and time to do something productive.  The gate was even closed by the time we left.

We actually came to this area as there were caves to explore, but after further research these weren’t open to the general public and aren’t accessible in wet conditions anyway.  We could have gone to St David’s Monument but it was a little off route

Pigs in space

We had only driven a few kilometres up the main highway and they were filming the new Star Wars Film ‘Darth Porkey Streaks Back Across the Danish Empire’.  We actively had to stop, take a second look and turn back to witness the most fantastic pig stys.  They were straight out of a Star Wars movie.  We couldn’t get close enough to see for sure, but they even looked like they had solar panels on.  The pigs and piglets looked Luke Sky-Warmer in their futuristic pods and pads.  If the Millennium Falcon lands here,  then pigs really can fly.

Yankee Doodle came to town

A lot of the towns we have passed through look like old American towns that might have featured in films like ‘Invasion of the body snatchers’ or ‘Little House on the Prairie’. We passed through yet another one of these called ‘Pleasant Point’.  “Sarah, I’ve seen this town in the movies, lock the door and don’t stop at the red traffic lights” lol.

KFC – finger burning hot

With the gas for the stove running low we headed through Timaru town and were both in need of a hot drink.  We had a full canister of gas and enough in another one for a meal and possible coffee in the morning.  As we had to return the van with a full gas we needed to get boiling water another way.  We pulled up between Maccy D’s and KFC.  Knowing that Ronald would be busier than the colonel. Sarah popped into KFC.  As with most American companies, they bend over backwards to please and this was no exception.  The attendant was taking a bit of time so Sarah had a look.  The poor girl was filling our 600ml flask with a tiny cup, one cup at a time.  The problem was she was doing it over the sink, which was quite a way from the water still. So thank you KFC for the extra effort.

Pingu for the 18+

So after KFC and getting hot water it was around the corner to Carolyn Bay to see the Blue penguins of New Zealand.  These are the smallest penguins in the world. It is said that they don’t come out to play much.  They are only really seen on a couple of beaches between November and March if you are lucky.   The weather was against us as they stay hidden in the rain.  It was pouring and we were out of luck.  They only usually come out at dawn or dusk at this time of year to moult their young feathers.  Oh well, it was worth a try.  Off to Winchester Bridge to Freedom camp for the last time.  The rains were still pouring down so we had to choose our pitch well. This was so we weren’t bogged in in the morning as we were right next to a river.

A bit of a late night but we can always sleep on the plane.