Okay...why wont they go off?

 12th November

What a wonderfully peaceful night. No rain or wind not even the twittering of a bird, needless to say we awoke late. Sun was shinning when I went for my shower but oh my goodness, by the time I was ready to get back to the Toy it was chucking it down. I had to forgo drying my hair, no point really, it would have been wet through again by the time I got back!

We decided on egg and bacon for breakfast. This site had a well equipped camp facilities and with a lull in the weather we made the dash to the kitchen. We even had toast and peanut butter, a luxury we haven't had in a while. Then it was a walk to the Deer park. 

OMG the biggest clap of thunder nearly overhead had both of us scurrying back to the Toy. Only just made it back in time. A quick look at the weather app for this area confirmed bad weather but go further North toward Napier, and it was all change. Another decision made and go find the Maraetotara Falls.

Just before we set off this Kingfisher appeared. Hmm, I was a bit worried. The last time I saw a Kingfisher in New Zealand was when we hired the Red Peril at Auckland. It was a few days later we discovered diesel in the water tank. Here is a REMINDER

 

Took roughly 1 hour 30 minutes drive along highway 2, 120 km in total. A stop at a small picnic area for coffee and right by where we had parked was this. Still can't get my head around a hot Christmas.

 

Near to Hastings, the falls were easy to find and just a short walk down a fairly steep track from the car park. Wow, all the rain had certainly swollen the rivers and the amount of water flowing over the rocks were pretty spectacular. Plenty of swimmers and some jumping from a rope attached to a tree.

Back to the Toy and a discovery made that was not expected. The brake lights were on. Was it a sticky switch that was the issue? Ian pumped the brake and the light went off. A quick fix....or so he thought! Drove to another car park further up the road to get a view of the upper falls. Locked the Toy and went to walk away only to discover the lights were on again. This time no amount of brake pumping would turn them off, worrying. Time was after 2pm. It was a Saturday, would any Toyota garages be open? We did no more than drive back to Hastings to find one.

Found one off Victoria Road. Fingers crossed they could help, I waited for Ian's return. His glum face said it all. The service department had closed at midday! With it being the weekend, nothing could be done until Monday. We debated whether we could take the leads off the battery overnight, that would save the battery from going flat but then Ian had a brain wave. Disconnect the lead to the switch, that would do the same job. So yet another decision made, drive to Napier, another Toyota garage repairs had been found on a Google search and to wait it out at the Marine Parade free camp ground right on the shore line. Once there all he had to do was isolate the lights from the battery and the job was done. As a bonus the aquarium is nearby, as is Napier prison, two of the must-do's on our list.

 The peace was shattered later by loads of cars, vans, campers etc all beeping horns and playing loud music, and from the windows flags were being flown. No idea what that was all about except we do know the flags were Samoan. It may have something to do with the Rugby League World Cup. Samoa are playing England tomorrow at three thirty, first time Samoa have got to the semi final.

 Seen on route

And wildlife