exile. a while

at 4.05pm on tuesday 23 march, just a little to the west of nelson (where the road begins to wind up that big hill), lucy the valiant did something amazing: she went round the clock! we had been eagerly watching the odometer since leaving karamea that morning, with increasing frequency as the numbers rolled round (it's amazing i didn't rear-end anyone in nelson!). the anticipation and excitement built up to a frenzy as we reached the bottom of the hill, aware that we might not be able to pull over at the crucial moment to document this once-in-a-lifetime event. however luck was on our side, and there was ample room to pull over just as the numbers clicked to 99999 ... then drive forward long the shoulder to roll onto 00000 ...



(no, i wasn't driving when these pics were taken, the speedomoter just descends slowly & gracefully.)



once the auspicious event was documented, we celebrated - andy shared a beer with zecica & k.b. while i did some whooping & cheering & jumping. then we headed off again, bound for portage in the keneperu sound. this required an even slower and windier journey than we'd had previously (arthur's pass, karamea bluff, the buller gorge and the road out of nelson all providing plenty of hairpin bends and one-lane bridges to negotiate). we arrived in portage in time for a beautiful still evening & romantic sunset ...



... however this morning we've awoken to a full-on torrential rainstorm. unfortunately, due to her age, lucy has a couple of leakage issues, plus somewhat inefficient wipers. if we didn't have to leave today we wouldn't, but we're booked on the 6pm ferry back to wellington - where apparently gale force winds will greet us. perhaps the ferry crossing will be cancelled. we've had far too much rain on this trip! i suppose it serves me right for trying to have 4 summers in a row, but this has really been a poor summer. i'm just going to have to go back to europe ...