Who let the dogs out??

The morning after the Alpine Crossing,  we woke feeling surprisingly perky, as we packed up the van & hit the road. As we traversed the winding mountain roads we couldn't pick any music up on the radio, so  I serenaded Mr L with my full repertoire of songs as he feigned appreciation. We didn't really have much of a plan from this point on, but we were conscious we needed to allow plenty of time for the South Island. Napier was on our list of places to go, but it would have resulted in a 200km detour so we put it on our next time list &  carried on the road to Wellington. At about 3.30pm with the sunshine putting in a full shift,  we pulled off the highway at a place called Levin, to take full advantage of it. As we drove onto the campsite,  I was immediately approached by a small boy who declared he had lost his ‘pop’. Poor little thing. There  were other campers around but he'd selected me to rescue him. I had my eye on a something cold to drink in the sunshine but I put my needs aside & got him to tell me his story then took him to reception, where we  established that, quite bizarrely his family had moved off the site & he had been left to find his way to their new location, which he'd forgotten, which is perfectly understandable given that he was 8yrs of age. Thankfully reception staff reunited him with his family but with no thanks or acknowledgement. It's hard not to judge sometimes. We did our domestic chores – washed clothes, bedding & ourselves, cooked & bed. Life on the road can be crazy sometimes. 
The following day we went to Wellington, where we spent the afternoon exploring the quayside, shops & the city museum – our favourite museum by far. In the late afternoon we headed out of town to  camp for the evening,  at a DOC (Department of Conservation) site, which is cheaper, but more basic, but with lovely surroundings.. We were just getting dinner ready when a Land Rover pulling a battered caravan came on site. Normally you just get tents,  cars or people carriers like ours on these sites so it was unusual to see this size of vehicle. As it pulled up the driver, quite an elderly man, produced 2 large German shepherd dogs & tethered them outside the caravan. I am not anti dogs – but my preference is for well behaved, well controlled dogs. These didn't seem to be either. I carried on cooking (vegetable curry - nice) when I saw a lad walk around the caravan & one of the dogs went for him. He leapt back and I could see he was in pain.  I called to him to come over & let me look at it & he seemed relieved. He was  shaken, bleeding profusely & v shocked. The puncture wound at the front of his leg was brutal & at the back a row of teeth had acted as a knife slashing through his leg. This long & scraggy haired, multi pierced, young man from the north of England, wearing big boots and dirty work clothes,  declared that he'd been working on the roads in NZ. He was 23yrs of age & contrary to how he looked, was  clearly very frightened by the experience. I cleaned the wound (FYI I have no medical training!!) & made general enquiries about his tetanus injection history, then Suggested a trip to hospital. I hope my girlfriends P & C, who are medically trained, are nodding here as I would hate to disappoint them by doing the wrong thing. The lad agreed to go to hospital & said  he would also ring his mum to let her know. Bless. Words were exchanged with the dog owner & they were put in the caravan & not seen again. I would have preferred if he had left the site. I couldn't help but think what if it had been a small child.
The following day we went back into Wellington to get the ferry across to the South Island which took just under 4hrs. It was a pleasant Crossing & the views as we got closer were beautiful. We also watched the beginning of a film “Petes Dragon” – now we've seen the beginning & the end! It was 7pm as we landed & we made our way through the town, along a windy little road that took us to our campsite. It was only a short distance but already this Island felt a lot different to the North Island.