Getting used to Tent Life

We slept much better our second night in the tent, but it started raining around 3am....And didn't stop for over 24 hours! We got up early anyway and drove back to Picton because we thought we might as well use the rainy day as a shopping day. The windy roads were a bit too much for Rosie this time. She had to go and sit down while I finished the shopping and on the way back to the campsite the sick bags we had collected on the ferry saw some use.

Back at camp we had lunch and read a book aloud while sheltering in the tent. In the afternoon we had a nap while the rain still hammered on the tent and I took a walk around the farm in the rain, because I was getting tent fever. We made pasta for dinner and had an early night. The camp was looking pretty waterlogged by nightfall. But we were pleased with the tent. It stayed dry and cosy in the inner compartment despite all the wind and rain. We did have to keep draining the flooded vestibule though!

When we woke up at 6am, it had stopped raining! We were thrilled. We snoozed a bit more in the tent and then had breakfast. After we had gotten ready it was around 7:30 and it still hadn't rained yet. We decided the tent had dried out enough so we packed it up and hit the road again.

Our first stop was Cullen Point where we took a short walk (about 1km) to a lookout. Then we continued to Pelorus Bridge where we walked a couple of hours to 2 waterfalls and back. 

We had a car picnic lunch and then did another walk to a suspension bridge and then a walk called the circle route. The weather was cloudy but we only had a few spots of rain on all the walks and the trails weren't too muddy. The forest was very damp though and we could smell the fermenting leaves and saw lots of mushrooms growing. Both of the waterfalls were nice, the Pelorus river was beautiful and clear and the suspension bridge was fun and bouncy.

Got bitten A LOT putting this up.  The bites we got here would end up lasting us most of the trip!

In the afternoon we checked into the campsite at Pelorus Bridge. It is a really nice site with great facilities and there weren't many people there. There are a lot of sandflies though! It turns out sandflies love me just as much as mosquitoes do! We sprayed ourselves and spent the rest of the day chilling at the campsite and by the river and cooking and eating on the road chilli. We are pretty efficient at putting the tent up now.
Tomorrow is Rosie's birthday so we will go to Nelson for a birthday lunch and to get supplies for our long hike.