Fields of Blue

Well, grass verges really.  

Driving up from the Coast to Lake Benmore this is a common sight.  Vipers bugloss is horrible prickly stuff, and is officially designated a noxious weed now I think, but it looks pretty when it covers the wide verges.

Last night I stayed in Waianakarua.  It has such a cool name that I just had to stop there - every time I've driven through the area I've spent ages trying to pronounce it in my head.  I stopped in a lovely park bordered on one side by the Waianakarua river and fully surrounded by mature trees.  
The problem with that was the wind!  It was so strong that it blew a tree over lines down in Hampden and took out power to the area for some hours.  Then when the wind stopped the rain visited.  Torrential!  For hours!  

Still, everything was gorgeously green and fresh this morning, and there weren't any really huge branches down in the park - but there were lots and lots of smaller ones, and millions of leaves.

I got to Oamaru about 11a.m. and did a bit of shopping - groceries, a book, a camp stool (to use as a footrest because I feel I need it to go with my outdoor chair), a screwdriver and some screws to fix a window latch, and a couple of  Christmas presents for me.

The sun was missing all day until I finally made it to Kurow, where it began putting in an appearance. Since I arrived at Lake Benmore it has been fully in evidence.  Jasper and I set up camp.  Which means that I did once I'd given her a dog chew to keep her out of my way.  Then we went off for a walk alongside the lake.