The morning air was threatening, and my quick dash for tea confirmed the presence of heavy thunder clouds over Abel Tasman to the north and grey walls of rain squalling across the bay. We had just finished loading up as the first shower hit and we cruised smuggly out of Pohara heading to the metropolis which was Takaka. We had a lovely FaceTime catch up with the Brock Hall bunch, and spent most of our time explaining that the thunderous rain storm hammering on the outside of the Enema was very much out of character...

Although visibility was at about 10 metres we battled our way to the northern-most 'viewpoint' of South Island at Cape Farewell. The beach road gave us insights of a grey, rain drenched the foreshore inhabited by hundreds of menacing black swans, eerily and silently gliding in and out of the mist. Eventually we reached a narrow bridge which allowed us to cross the raging torrent which stood between us and a dash through the rain to get to the Farewell Cafe.

An excellent flat white and hot chocolate were accompanied by a delicious warm blueberry and chocolate muffin as we watched the rain through the impressive picture window. The view along the 25km sand bar was still very impressive but the photos of the whale beachings it had witnessed were markedly harrowing.

As we toddled back South the rain slowed and eventually stopped, allowing the sun to peak through. A quick re-stock in Moteka then on to our campsite in Kaiteriteri. Where the Rough Guide described the bay as 'ranking highly in the pantheon of Kiwi summer holiday destinations'.

My personal description would read 'see Cromer' as the pleasant surroundings were marred by the excessive presence of hundreds of kiwis who had apparently been coming here for years, in the same car, in the same caravan, with the same jokes, and likely wearing the same clothes and using the same toothbrush.. We left the commune immediately after checking in to our pitch which resembled a Texan trailer park littered with faded 70's awnings and set off to find a less populated viewpoint.

We struck gold. It took several miles of winkling down tiny windy coastal roads before we tracked down the small car park to 'Split Apple' bay. From here we continued on foot, meandering down a raised walkway through the bush, which spat us out onto a beautifully un-populated and scenic beach surrounded by steep cliffs, dense foliage and with a stunning centre piece of a gigantic boulder, perched on a small island and split almost exactly in half.

Sadly the rain limited our time here and we dashed back to the Enema where, windscreen wipers flailing, we headed to Marahau. We pulled up on another beautifully deserted beach, made a cup of tea and snuggled down in the Enema to read our books as the rain continued to pour. Secretly it was exactly the weather we wanted.

The rain relented enough to watch a stormy sunset before we beetled back to the gulag where Bob rustled up a very tasty curry and we discussed our ongoing plans, carefully avoiding fine planning of the next 48 hours involving sea kayaks, tents and self sufficiency...