Leaving Jack Behind

After a good night’s sleep at The Welcome Swallow we headed for Raetea Forest. Here was supposed to be a free DOC campsite and it was right on our way. We passed Doubtless Bay on the north side of the island, following the Twin Coast Discovery Highway. It was a VERY beautiful drive.

We decided to skip Cape Reinga, the northernmost point of New Zealand, and its famous lighthouse, because of the long time it would take us to get there and the fact that the stories about it didn’t sound all that mind-blowing.

We got to the Raetea Forest campsite in the late afternoon, found ourselves a nice parking spot next to the river and started to make dinner. The second we took out our cooking gear it started to rain! First a few drops, but after a while it started to get a bit more serious, so after cooking (and eating) at super speed, we threw all the things into the van and hopped inside. Oh well, guess it will be an early night..

It rained like mad, all through the night. It’s a good thing that Gramps is all nice and warm inside…

The next morning it finally stopped raining and when the sun came out, the whole world looked like a different place. We were in the middle of a cloud and there was a rainbow right in front of us. It was really magical. Yep, it’s gonna be another great day..