We
set off in the rain on Saturday morning. We weren't sure whether we
would be able to go up or not.
We
crossed a ford just before the visitors centre, where we stopped. The
2 ladies behind the counter told us sorry but the next river crossing
would be up to your chests, so the road is closed. They had about 60
people up at the hut that couldn't get out. (It sleeps 80). We had
lunch and set off for home, only to find the ford was a lot fuller
and running very fast. Tony ( driver) went out into it to check the
depth and decided it would be pushing against the van and it wasn't
safe. We all agreed with that decision! Back to the visitors centre (
very glad it was there). We watched a movie about the kauri logging
that went on in the early 1900's there. Very hardy men and huge
logs!. They put the logs into a stream that had a dam in it. When it
was full they let the logs go and they whizzed off to the mill. They
have a little model dam we went to look at before we went home. After the movie we
checked the ford. It was dropping, but still to high. We then watched
“The Hunt for the Wilderpeople”, which we had all seen before,
but we all enjoyed again.
The
stream had dropped by now, so we were able to safely leave and head
for home.
The ladies told us that they had emptied 78 mls of rainwater out of the gauge that morning and there was another 15 mls in it just before we left at 3 pm.
The visitors centre is a lovely building, where we ate our lunch.
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