It's a rainy day ...

Day 47 - 10/26/23

...or several DAISS, as the New Zealanders say.

In the last two days there have been heavy rains, especially in the nights - but especially last night with around 1,700 lightning strikes in our region. Luckily the rain had eased by the time we set off for Wanaka, with breaks of around 6 hours. Nevertheless, we had repeatedly seen warnings about “flood” and Road Control was also in action. There was a lot of water running from the mountains down into the valley over the streams and paths.

Our accommodation in Wanaka is great and can withstand a few rainy days, although we don't hope for that, because being outside and enjoying nature is of course nicer.

In the meantime we understood that we had really had a “pig”, because

• A cyclone that formed unusually early for the season near Vanuatu caused rain, a lot of wind and drops in temperature, which can also affect the area we are currently in or that lies ahead of us.
• According to Radio Wanaka, the pass that we drove on today should be driven on with snow chains if possible, at least on board, from 7 p.m. today until tomorrow morning.
• The route ahead of us, which would take us to altitudes of up to 1,100 meters, will probably not be possible for us - so we'll just take a detour.

The temperature fluctuations are sometimes extreme and forecast for a city/region, for example, low minus 3 degrees and high plus 19 degrees on the same day.

Day 48 - 10/27/23

In the morning there was bright sunshine and clear, cool air so we set off to climb Mount Iron and enjoy the view. At times it looks embarrassingly postcard-like, but that's just the way it is and we're happy to accept it.