Sunday was really warm. Up to 31 degrees again and humid. I sorted out my wardrobe box. Most things will remain in Poki, as I have more winter clothes than summer clothes. Mostly to ensure we survived in Ushuaia and Antarctica. My summer wardrobe consists of three pairs of shorts and about 6 tee shirts. I’m looking forward to some smarter attire when we’re back in the UK. We have both now packed our clothes.
New Arrival
In the afternoon another Landrover Defender, a 110 TD5 like ours, bright yellow, though, and a few years younger, arrived. A 2004 model. The driver is a young German guy who has driven from Halifax to Alaska and then down to Ushuaia in the year’s sabbatical from his job, as an engineer for a German public TV channel. We had an interesting conversation during the 5pm drinks session. He had previously bought two horses in Mongolia, one to ride and a pack horse and ridden around the country.
Thunderstorm
When we were getting ready for bed, in the distance lightening was constantly lighting up the sky. The forecast was for rain. Sadly we had become a bit blasé. So many times rain had been forecast but came to very little. At about 1.30 we were woken by rain coming through the vents above us. This soon became a full blown thunderstorm with strong wind, rain and flashing and crashing.
After an hour or so it stopped and we managed to get back to sleep. A few hours later the rain started again and it continued to rain steadily until about 11.30 this morning. The tent and some contents were soaked. Just what we didn’t need at this stage of our packing up.
Drying Out
Although the rain had stopped, it was still very overcast and more showers continued on and off until about 1pm. It did then brighten up a bit, but was still very windy. We managed to move everything out of the tent and keep our dry bedding, mattresses and packed bag in Poki. Hanging and spreading everything out to dry, wasn’t easy. We were constantly battling with the wind to keep things on the line.
New Born Foal
During the early hours of the morning, we heard a noise we thought was horses fighting. In the daylight we saw a lovely sight, a newborn foal. It must have been the mare giving birth, Later Marieke, the owner, was trying to catch the mare and take the foal into a stable . It was shivering with cold being soaking wet and as the weather is very much colder.
The other horses had been moved to the neighbouring field and were all very excited and galloping around, bucking and neighing. The mother didn’t want to be caught, until Marieke went for a bucket of oats. Hopefully the little one won’t have suffered any ills from the cold.
By about 4.30pm we had managed to get most things dry. Sadly though, black clouds threatened and heavy rain came down soaking the tent again. Fortunately I had moved most of our things to the garage.
In the afternoon another vehicle arrived. A large sprinter with an Italian couple with two children. This afternoon I cleaned out the fridge. Fortunately we have some time tomorrow morning to finalise packing. We have to get all the heavy roof boxes into Poki. I do hope it doesn’t rain again in the night. Our last night in Poki for a while. The tent is already wet again from this afternoon’s rain. The wind is blowing against the side of the tent and the rain is coming straight through the door zip. We really need a fine morning to make sure everything is dry and obviously packing will be easier if the weather is fine.
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Safe travels, you two 🙂
Hi Neal, thanks for that. A new dawn, or is is dusk…;)