"May Cause Drowsiness....."

In the car and up the coast today. Departure was intended for 6am but for some reason the alarm was not correctly set so we were somewhat delayed in hitting the road. Then further delayed as Gaye picked tomatoes, and emptied the compost. Etc.

Meanwhile I was in the car “warming the engine.”

Naturally we forgot vital things like a camera download cable and Gaye’s frozen vegetarian patties for tonight’s meal and inevitably these things were progressively remembered as we got further and further from home.

The Kaikoura Coast turned on the entertainment for us with two pods of bottlenose dolphins performing close to shore, and the weather got measurably worse as we approached Picton. MAF’s Didymo-alert man cheerily assured us of a rough trip across to Wellington, at which point Gaye started to show early signs of seasickness even as we stood on the dock.

“This is a lucky break,” she finally announced as she broke out the anti nausea drugs in preparation for crossing Cook Strait. “I get a chance to test the medication before we hit the real thing with the Navy”. (The Navy is rather unkindly referred to in this week’s Listener as having “a hilariously patchy record of commissioning and fitting ships that can barely reach Norfolk Island without getting puffed.”)

The results? Unconsciousness right through a trip that was not unlike a train journey. Smooth sailing on flat water.