And it rained and rained and rained…

John39’s comment about his experiences of rain hammering on his camper van in New Zealand put me in mind of this poem which I discovered when on the west coast of New Zealand in 1995:

It rained and rained and rained
The average fall was well maintained
And when the tracks were simple bogs
It started raining cats and dogs.
After a drought of half an hour
We had a most refreshing shower
And then most curious thing of all
A gentle rain began to fall.
Next day but one was fairly dry
Save for one deluge from the sky
Which wetted the party to the skin
And then at last the Rain set in!

We didn’t think Monday could be worse than Sunday. It was. Several hours of heavy rain fell overnight and until midday, raising the level of the River Rother and flooding surrounding fields. This was taken from the opposite side of the bridge from yesterday’s double rainbow. The footpath sign looks forlorn.

The extra is from the carriage window as we waited for a let up to get the luggage into the car. When it eased a little we still got soaked.

Nevertheless we had a wonderful weekend, very restful, time to recharge the batteries and forget about some of the madness we live in. We had a final excellent all day breakfast at the Hub then set off for home.

It appears where we were had the worst of the rain, Maidstone, just an hour away, had nowhere near the volume and river levels were only slightly raised.

Thank you for all the hearts for yesterday’s rainbows. I will get around to thanking you all individually. No time today. The contrast in water levels over the last few days is very marked.