The end of 2025!
We have arrived in our tiny rustic off grid cabin in the wilderness, in the worst weather our hosts have seen, it was QUITE the journey getting here, we arrived in Picton from Havelock at around 8am wondering if our boat ride would go ahead, the weather was not good at all. As we headed into the Sounds, we could hear over the radio, other boat rides being cancelled and requests for pickups of people stranded in the park, we did not know if we should feel lucky or alarmed as we headed in!
It was then a 2 km slippery walk with very heavy packs to our destination. We consoled ourselves with the thought, that on the way home the packs will have no food in them, so will be much, much lighter. The last guests staying here were unable to leave because of the weather, so the owners of the cabin have taken them into their home, (also off grid and not far from us) until things settle down.
The whole country is being hit, there are weather warnings in effect across both islands. The road between Picton and Nelson closed not long after we used it and the ferry between the islands cancelled.
Luca is out in this somewhere on the ocean 😱, my anxiety levels are high. Worse weather in years and we put our child on a boat with 39 other kids and send him off. “Go sailing, I said, you will love I said, it will be fun, such an adventure, a perfect time of year sunny and warm!” 😮
We are following his journey closely on an app, the map and Captains Log are somewhat reassuring. This will either be an amazing adventure he will talk about forever, or he will not be happy with me at all, going on the Spirit was my suggestion…we think we see him in the photo taken yesterday with them all in the orange jackets, the one crouched down with his hand over his knee… (below link)
The below photo was just prior to setting sail on the 29th. We had put Luca on the shuttle that took him to the boat, then we went to this viewpoint hoping to catch a glance of him, alas we did not.
We had put him on with a hearty meal prior, hopefully it stayed down!!!!
We feel incredibly lucky to have had the weather we had on the West Coast; the highway we drove out on, now has had a lot of trees and debris on it because of the strong winds.
It is not lost on us that we left NZ’s wettest place, where we had great weather, and now in NZ’s sunniest, and having the opposite. It is supposed to clear but in a couple of days. In the meantime, this is where we are hunkered down. I braved the shower last night, cold, supposed to have hot water but the winds messed with it and kept blowing the flame out. Refreshing but very quick 🙂 .
We made and ate supper, then snuggled down for the night, with our podcasts and books but were asleep early, exhausted.
This was fun to use in the torrential rain and wind, needless to say it was a fast trip!
Our first meal was not bad, not bad at all! We had not eaten since a shared muffin at 0800 so were hungry last night.
We are feeling incredibly privileged to have a dry, warm space and bed, not in a tent as a lot are currently. Today at least the wind has stopped, still getting a lot of rain but the water is calm, and boats are back out on it, which bodes well for tomorrow being a better day. 🤞
The view from the bed spectacular no matter the weather!
This is my last post for 2025. Tomorrow is the start of a new year!
May 2026 be good to you all, oh and bring some sunshine! ☀️
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