Deceptively calm

Running a day late as yesterday didn't quite go to plan! Joe and I decided to go to Wharariki, an amazing beach near Farewell Spit at the very top of South Island and about an hour and a quarter away. Himself, whose hip's been giving him trouble, decided to opt out and potter around here.i met Joe for a quick lunch then we set off, in his car as he only wanted me to chill and enjoy the view. His car is electric. You can guess the rest I suspect!  He thought he had plenty of juice but it became clear that we wouldn't make it to Wharariki and back, so we turned back. We compensated ourselves with a walk on this amazingly huge and deserted beach where we saw squids' eggs, black swans and a transparent jellyfish. Unfortunately as we tootled home it became obvious that we weren't going to make it : warning signs came up in Japanese and then the dreaded turtle sign which means you've had it! Luckily Joe had turned off by now and we made it to the car park at Patons Rock. A little further on were mega roadworks and if we'd stopped there would have caused an international incident and brought the whole of Golden Bay to a standstill! To cut a long story short, about an hour and a half later, a very large truck arrived and the Baked Bean ( and orange coloured Leaf) was hoisted aboard and we were taken back to Takaka. Phew. Joe embarrassed but kept his cool! We had supper at our place then a late swim. Never a dull moment.