Brrrrrrr!

When I arrived at the lake yesterday I had done a quick reccy to the campground and noted that the only other campervan in the area appeared to be hooked up to power . When I returned from the lakeside after last night's star-gazing I had eagerly hooked my van to a power supply then headed inside.....

Nothing......

Thinking that the power must be off for the winter (I had a vague feeling I'd heard/read a comment from teejay to this effect) I spent a very cool night snuggled under a duvet and a couple of light fleecy blankets.  An early wake-up found me resisting the sub-zero temperatures and going back to sleep until at least the sun was shining.  I packed up then headed back to the lakefront for breakfast and to thaw.  

In the 'old days' an 'iron ranger' used to collect camp fees - in other words, campers filled out their details, popped the appropriate fee in an envelope then deposited it into an iron tube for the DoC ranger to collect later.  Thieving from the iron ranger has however meant that this system is no longer used and campers have to go to the DoC office to pay.  

The DoC officer asked me if I'd had a powered site.......

"Well, yes, but there was no power.  I figured you must have cut the power for the season"

"Um, no.  We keep the power on all year.  Are you sure there was no power?"

"Well - I did only check one light and that didn't work"

"Did you try another site's supply?  Maybe the cold had got to to that one.  We have had some issues with the cold"

"Um - no.  I just resigned myself to a freezing night"

"Oh dear"

Lesson - assume nothing.  Check everything!  Especially where cold and comfort are concerned.

Not surprisingly, the hilly drive over to the Coast revealed plenty of amazing scenes.  Whilst it looks like snow it is actually 'just' frost.  There were plenty of corners, valleys etc that clearly hadn't seen the sun in a wee while.  Driving was therefore slow but happy to say, I'm at a campground tonight within earshot of the ocean and with power.  Feels very good.

G'night.

(PS map location is only a vague guesstimate)