Snow in June
As we approach the June equinox, it’s a different experience to be kicking off the winter season, counting down to the shortest day of the year, checking snow forecasts, and discussing skiing, snow pack, ski areas, opening dates, ticket prices and figuring out if we can get a ski day in. Although it doesn’t snow in Hokitika, it does in the mountains we see every day and on the roads that connect to Hokitika to supplies!
The first storm was last week on June 6th. It snowed 125 cm (4 feet) in 20 hours, measured at Arthur’s Pass, the main road between here and Christchurch, about 1 ½ hours away.
The road was closed for a few days and several items in the supermarket ran out. More importantly the hair product I was waiting to buy at “my” new hair salon couldn’t make it here for about 4 days!
If you can click on this link you can see spectacular footage of a train snowplowing through Arthur’s Pass on June 6, after the snow storm.
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| A friend sent this to me - Craigieburn Ski Valley - about 2 hours from here. Can there really be this much snow 2 hours from the palm tree in my driveway? |
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| Still mind boggling to look to the east and see snow capped mountains and then look to the west and see the ocean and temperate forest vegetation. |
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| Bundling up for the frosty but beautiful commute to and from work. See the snow caps in the background. |
Without Christmas as a distraction during the short days of the year, the community finds other ways to make the best of the lack of sunshine. Upcoming events:
A lantern parade – kids will be making lanterns this weekend in preparation for a 5PM parade on June 20th followed by a bonfire on the beach. Co-workers of mine are coordinating this event, I did my part by volunteered Lea to play sax for the parade. Update: with hopes for 30 people to show up, the event attracted 150+ people, maybe 200. So many kids had made lanterns. Adults did too. A trio of musicians, two saxs and a drummer led the parade. Lea was one of the sax players! The weather was perfect and we all ended up at a bonfire on the beach with sausies on the grill.
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| Knitting is a big pastime here, all the kids have the cutest hand knit sweaters and hats |
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| A big crowd gathered waiting for darkness |
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| Boys and lanterns (Tim on the right) |
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| The Red Moki from Hoki always adds excitement to an event |
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| He's great at passing time, we were waiting for it to get a little darker out. He told a great tale about a tavern that had floated away to sea during a storm. |
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| The musical leaders |
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| Such a pretty site to see everyone walking along the shore with their lanterns |
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| All prepared for playing in the dark |
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| A person who twirls a fire stick for extra entertainment on the beach. |
Family party at work – Shortest day of the year, end the day a little early, enjoy fish and chips with mulled wine (a specialty of the Conservator (Regional Director) in the tea break "smoka" room. I'll do my part by eating and drinking. Apparently, the shortest day of the event, with mulled wine, has been a breakfast event in the past. Productivity wasn't always great after the breakfast parties.
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| Mulled wine and fish and chips |
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| Chip Buttie or may chip buddy - people had buttered lots of pieces of bread before the fish and chips arrived. We didn't know why until the fish and chips came and realized they make sandwiches with the deep fried chips and fish. Does that sound good? Well........ |
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| Lea tried it! Greg used the bread as a plate. |
Winter Market at the local primary school – food and festivities as a fund raiser for the school. Julia, Tom's wife is organizing this event. I'll do my part by being willing to be bossed around and helping where needed.
We spend the long dark evenings reading books, watching movies, discussing the weather, and moving electric heaters from room to room. We've got library cards for the local library (the library lends out puzzles!) and have joined the local movie rental place. I've been working my way through watching the extended version + appendices of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Wow..they are good. The movies are produced by a kiwi and they were filmed all over New Zealand. The movies and the story of the making of the movies are fantastic and sooooooooo New Zealand.
Also, we try and catch sunset on the nice weather days and Lea plays with her camera alot - here's cool shot.
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| Guess which Connors family member this is. Hint - not Greg. |
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