It was our last night at Castlepoint and the puffs were really building. The forecast had been for the wind to drop around 9pm but it still seemed to be building.

The Coastguard app on my phone was showing a steady 40 knots gusting at 60 at the lighthouse which was just across the bay from us.
Gary and Dianne had left earlier that day but we’re coming back later in the week to rejoin our wee convoy but I was quietly pleased he wasn’t there with his extra height and length.

Just as it was getting dark, Rob decided he would shift the Tracker and point it more Northwards into the wind coming around the hill so I followed suit and also brought Rafe back further to escape more of the wind.

About 1.30am, we were woken up by some huge puffs and Rafe was really rockin and rolling. I saw Robs light go on but didn’t get up to see what was happening.
I looked at the Coastguard app again and it was 55 knots with 73 knot gusts.. The local paper later recorded this as 120k ! So much for the forecast. By 3am it had dropped right back to less than 30 knots.. What a wild night !
In the morning, I found out that Rob had gone for a wild windy walk around the campground to find absolute devastation on the bottom level. Tents shredded and boogie boards flying.. It was mayhem apparently and we were better off where we were. Apparently many abandoned their sites and went home. The camp management talked about dumping a ute full of tent bits later.

Don’t forget to click on the images for Hi Res or a slideshow

In the morning it was bright and sunny and very calm.. Amazing..
After an easy breakfast and a cuppa, we left together and headed towards Martinborough.
On the way we stopped at Greytown at a French bakery which Fiona is a bit partial to and then back to Carterton to head towards Stonehenge Aotearoa.

Fiona looking at the Seven Sisters

Stonehenge is about 11k’s east of Carterton on someone’s farm.
Very cleverly done with Audio visual explanations and basically, it is a huge Sundial with extra options 🙂 .. I’m sure there’s a lot more to it that that but it’s an interesting setup. Well worth looking at if you’re in the area with a Motorhome friendly carpark.

We arrived in Martinborough around Midday in bright sunshine and settled Rafe down for a few days at the Vineyards 🙂
And our track to Martinborough from Rafe’s Tracker