A very cold southerly blast hit the Wellington region (and much of the rest of the country) on Saturday, July 5th, bringing snow to some of the higher hills. Although we didn't see the white stuff in Tawa itself, we certainly experienced the cold weather and occasional bouts of hail.

More than a few Wellingtonians headed into the Rimutakas (about 50 minutes drive from Tawa) on the Sunday afternoon to enjoy the snow on their "doorstep", something which happens very infrequently in this neck of the woods. In fact there were so many cars on the hills that traffic was bumper to bumper and, at times, at a standstill - an easy target for balls of soft snow! And the snowballs didn't always stay on the outside of those vehicles with an open window! Snow certainly has novelty value for those in this region, as evidenced by the number of cars and people specifically headed that way that particular afternoon. And on heading back out of the hills we were intrigued to see the police stopping cars with too much deliberately-placed snow on their car bonnets (usually in the shape of a snowman) because in most instances it clearly wouldn't have helped the drivers' ability to see.