That was a long day

We set off on a reccie trip on Saturday to make plans for the upcoming Safari trip we are organising  for the caravan club.   Packing up our picnic lunch we  set off bright and early at 8.00am, the morning just seemed to be waking up. 

Ready for our adventure

It was a bit misty driving over the Pahiatua Track, with the first few wind turbines shrouded in mist, then it cleared as we drove down from the top.  

It's a fairly long drive to the Wairarapa from home, taking us two hours.  Guess we should have left home a little earlier.  First stop was at Henley Lake for a comfort stop and we noticed plenty of freedom campers in residence.  Lots of water laying about on the ground too, no doubt the resident ducks and geese will enjoy splashing about in all those puddles.

Henley Lake

Then we set off on our reccie trip to check out where we would stay on the safari, the cost of camps we were interested in, the milage we might do on any given day, and any attractions in the area.  We drove here, there and everywhere

We drove up and down hills

Saw plenty of sheep

Showers followed us around, then we saw several rainbows keeping us company as we drove along.  

Yet another rainbow

There were road works galore, with lots of damage we noticed to various areas of the edge of the roadway falling away.  There were road cones everywhere and heavy machines parked on the side of the roads.  I think this area is still in recovery mode from a large storm which caused a lot of damage.

Yet more road works

Our picnic lunch was eaten looking out at a very attractive beach watching the small waves roll in.  And what's this, a seal was resting up by one of the rubbish bins.  Only a young one I think, and I carefully took his photo keeping my distance.

Our stop for lunch

Seal resting on the grass

We drove around some more, checking off the places on our list.  And passed by this massive area of work done - it looks like there was quite a landslide here at one stage.

Lots of remedial work done here

It was time to head home and by 5.30pm it was getting dark.  So it was quite a slow careful trip retracing our steps, watching out for the road cones and pot holes along unfamiliar roads in the pitch black.  No street lighting out here in the wop wops!  Eventually we made it over the Saddle Road and stopped at Dannevirke for a meal at Subway.

Dinner for two at Subway, Dannevirke

We still had a way to go and the car told us that it was running short of fuel and we wouldn't have quite enough to get back home.  That wouldn't do so we topped up and continued on our homewards journey.  Finally making it back home nearly 9 hours after starting out, and travelling 610kms.  It had been quite a day!