June 22, 2014 … homeward bound into darkening weather

Napier was grey, and a little damp.

After a coffee in Taradale with our younger daughter Helen, and a brief visit with other family members staying in the area, we hit the road. I could see, as I drove South, that we were heading into “weather.”  There were some spectacular clouds overhead, but I was driving and needed to make sure I stayed on the road. I chose SH50, the lovely scenic back road through Tikokino and Ongaonga. Sadly the light was fairly flat most of the way and I decided that the grand landscapes I had hoped for would not eventuate. A little past the Tikokino pub, Mary said “Stop!” Ever the dutiful husband, I did. She was pointing back to an old cottage and a chimney stack standing in the middle of a paddock. I liked it and took several angles, of which this is my favourite.

We had a very nice lunch in Dannevirke (The Red Sky cafe) and then moved on into the ever-darkening Wairarapa district. The drive down towards Wellington was uneventful until Masterton where some sort of emergency was in progress with Hazmat command  vehicle and Breathing apparatus trucks racing in from Wellington to join the already plentiful collection of flashing red and blue lights.  Clouds on the Tararua Range looked interesting but I didn’t get anything like the view I wanted until Carterton. Trees and buildings cluttered the view so I went a little way up Dalefield Rd towards Mt Dick and caught this view of the conditions in the mountains.

From there it was back to the winding road home. Despite signs warning of extreme winds on the Rimutaka Hill road, we made it safely. What? Only two images? I took many more, but they were mainly of the same two subjects.

Enough for today.