Last week we had some awesome wild weather! Previously I mentioned how cold it has been, and we’ve certainly been surprised at nights getting down in the low 40s (Fahrenheit), even a few down in the 30s (that’s below 4 degrees Celsius), for a place with palm trees!
On the other hand, when storm fronts come through off the Tasman Sea, we get some spectacular winds and rain downpours! Last week took the cake – an awesome thunder and lightning storm, including hail pouring down. This was the largest hail I’d ever seen: up to ~2 cm (~3/4″), with little spikes on it, like medieval maces!
Much of Auckland lost power from the high winds, and Navman shutdown early that day. We went down to Takapuna beach to check out the surf (and surfers) – the usually calm Pacific-side was quite different that day!
The South Island has really been hit hard (remember it’s winter here, and the further South you go the colder it gets) – the entire island blanketed in snow, and wide-spread power outages.