Mist in the Morning

We woke to a still morning without a breath of wind. The surrounding hills were covered in mist and looked quite surreal.

“Do you think Heathcliffe is out there in the mist?”, I asked Robin. He looked at me as if I was crazy. Where is his romantic streak? He knows that Wuthering Heights is one of my favourite books.

We travelled through the mist as we drove up and over the Rimutaka Hill. There was a recent article in the newspaper which stated that parts of the Rimutaka Hill Road was one of the Wellington Region’s most dangerous road. There are road works taking place on several corners of this road which links the Hutt Valley to the Wairarapa. According to the article, even more dangerous is the Haywards Hill Road, which we also drive over regularly, both in the car and towing the caravan. Robin takes this sort of news in his stride. He is on the road all day doing his truck deliveries, and travels over the Haywards Hill several times a week, so knows the road well.

Once over the hill the rain had really set in. We stopped for lunch at the Wild Oats Cafe in Carterton. It was cosy and warm with the log burner close by and we enjoyed our choice of pizza and quiche. With a nice large latte to sip for me, and a Coke for Robin, plus the weekend paper to browse, it was a nice way to spend an hour or so on a wet Saturday.

Then it was time to head for home and tackle that hill road again. It might have been better for my nerves if I’d never seen that dratted article and read how the road was rated.