The best laid plans...

“Who’s that?”

The Captain posed the question as we arrived home from shopping and saw a silver-coloured car parked outside the caravan, but was addressed to no-one in particular. Now I did realise that the question was, broadly speaking, a rhetorical one but I felt strangely compelled to respond.

“I’ve no idea!” was my far from erudite and slightly pointless reply. However, those words had barely left my lips before I heard,

“Reckon it’s Lyall. Do you think it’s Lyall?”

Frankly, I had no idea whether it was Lyall but this time resisted the urge to respond. I watched the Captain stride off towards said car. I could hear the murmur of voices coming from the general direction of the vehicle so presumed that yes, it was Lyall. I busied myself with unloading the shopping. I was sure all would become clear in the fullness of time.

The ‘Lyall’ in question was Lyall Nash, owner of LP Nash Contracting, and, we hoped, the person who would be getting Smoko from Dunedin in the far south east of South Island New Zealand to Picton which is right at the north-eastern tip of the South Island. In our original plans this represented a fairly straightforward proposition – or at least as straightforward as things can be when it comes to moving a four tonne, 36-foot boat the length of South Island New Zealand on a truck. True, at around 700kms it was a fair distance, but the main state highway on the South Island, the SH1, meandered up the east coast and essentially connected Dunedin and Picton.

Where the mountains meet the sea - the Kaikoura Range

But just after midnight on 14 November 2016 all that changed. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit 60kms south of the east coast town of Kaikoura. At a depth of 15kms, ruptures occurred along multiple fault lines in the area with the largest amount of the energy being released north of the epicentre. It generated the strongest ground acceleration ever recorded in New Zealand and caused widespread damage throughout the South Island districts of Hurunui, Marlborough and Kaikōura, closing both the SH1 and the Main North Line railway between Picton and Christchurch. Amazingly, there were only two deaths as a result of the quake.

With close to a million cubic metres of rock and material falling onto the coastal transport corridor, Kaikoura and the surrounding rural communities were isolated - all roads and the rail network in and out of the area were damaged and closed by the slips.

This major event disrupted the lives of many. Homes were damaged and businesses were closed. Farms were left with damaged land and no access to markets for their goods. Communities were devastated by the loss of trade from passing traffic and tourists.

Kaikoura north wharf after the quake

Kaikoura is about 156kms south of Picton so with that area of the SH1 now out of action we needed an alternative. But that wasn’t as easy as it sounds. South Island New Zealand is dominated by the Southern Alps, a mountain range that runs approximately 500kms north east to south west essentially extending along the length of the Island. The name ‘Southern Alps’ generally refers to the entire range, although separate names are given to many of the smaller ranges that form part of it. With the SH1 out of action the Kaikoura Range, the Spenser Mountains and the St Arnaud Range essentially barred any direct route for us between the south and Picton. Our only alternative would be to use what became known post-quake as the State Highway Corridor between Christchurch and Picton via the Lewis Pass.

The Lewis Pass is the northernmost of the three main passes over the Southern Alps and at 864m, it is the second highest of those passes. It winds its way through extensive areas of native beech forest and whilst it makes an awesome journey for sightseeing it was not designed for low-loaders with 36-foot boats on board! But following the quake this became the main route for all freight between the Picton and the south of South Island. And this was the route that Lyall would have to take...assuming he agreed to take the job on.

...and whilst it makes an awesome sightseeing journey it was not designed for low-loaders...

I think it's fair to say that the prospect of that journey was not exactly filling Lyall with joy.  We had had several discussions with him before his current visit and I suspect, deep down, he hoped that perhaps we could wait until the road was open again before moving Smoko. And of course, that was an option. The Captain and I had definitely contemplated that idea. But the timeframe for the re-opening was being put at December 2017 at the earliest and here we were in early April. Could we really countenance waiting for another eight months before moving Smoko? And what if we decided to wait and then the road didn't open in December? I'd said I didn't want to spend yet another winter in the caravan...And so the reasons for not waiting mounted. Logic dictated we had to go.

The sound of a car driving off brought me back from the mildly catatonic state that, for me, generally accompanies putting grocery shopping away. A few seconds later, the Captain appeared in the caravan. I tried to scrutinise his demeanour for any hints as to the outcome of his conversation with Lyall but in the end abandoned subtlety in favour of the direct approach.

"Well?" The Captain looked at me somewhat quizzically as if uncertain why I would be asking him a question.

"Well what?" he queried.

I attempted to stifle the sense of irritation I was feeling at this point.

"I'm assuming that was Lyall...?"

By now the Captain was engrossed in writing things down and generally busying himself with 'stuff'. Several seconds passed with no reply. I was about to ask the question again when he said,

"Errmmm, sorry! What? Did you say something? I was just writing things down whilst I remembered...what did you say?"

Exasperated, I took a breath ready to revisit my original question but before I managed to say anything the Captain continued,

"That was Lyall. He's had a good look at the boat..."

The Captain stopped again and wrote something else down. I couldn't help myself.

"And...? Blimey, you're so frustrating! Are you not able to multitask?" The Captain looked really wounded by my apparent sudden bout of unreasonableness.

"Of course I can't multitask" he replied, "I'm a bloke! Anyway, enough of that. The boat's heading up to Picton on 08 May. That's just about three weeks from now. Lyall will load it up the previous Friday so it's ready for an early start on the Monday. Pilot vehicle's all organised. Now all we need to do is to make sure everything is ready to go. Oh yes, and make sure Geoff is ready for Smoko's arrival in Waikawa...and hope the weather behaves so there are no issues with the roads. So what did you want to know?"

I was stunned into silence by the news - sort of relieved, excited and nervous all at the same time - so I simply smiled and shook my head to indicate I had nothing more to ask.

"Oh - and don't forget to book that Friday off as a holiday" he added. "We need someone to take photos of the move. And I'll ask Claire to do a video."

I wanted to say I didn't really want to be there - like I hadn't been there when the boat was turned - but how could I do that to the Captain. However, I didn't need to say anything because by that time he was busy scribbling away again and as we've already established, multitasking isn't exactly the Captain's forte!

So there we have it. We have a date. Things were finally moving. Let the fun begin.

Anticrepuscular rays - Tunnel Beach, Dunedin