Rain!

152mm in the last 24 hours due to Ex-tropical Cyclone Gita.

Calm

Chilly start to a lovely calm winter's day.

The sun is touching the inside of the front fence by 9.30 a.m., but is climbning up the gradient of the hill so still not much going on in the yard until 11 a.m.

Cloudy

Cloudy start to the day with afternoon showers. Big bright full moon shining through the night.

Morning sun shining through the clouds.

Hard frost, clear day

Cold start to the day - very frosty. Lovely clear day.

Hail

Changeable weather today. Had some hail in the afternoon.

Feels like spring

Nice sunrise. Weather very spring-like today.

Allports

A frosty start, but a lovely calm day. I ignored the work that was waiting to be done in the yard and went out for a fish around Allports Island in Queen Charlotte Sound. Aside from the spotties, a blue cod that was just under the 'slot limit' (30cm - 35cm) was all I pulled in.

Allports Island, Queen Charlotte Sound,
Marlborough Sounds.

Second Dip

The sun is definitely showing from the second dip in the hill now. The last few days have been cloudy and wet, so it has been hard to tell, but the sun shone in briefly after 2 p.m. today. Must be about three hours of sun in the yard now (11.30 a.m. - 2.30 p.m.)

Maybe fake sun

Overcast and gusty with on-and-off rain today, so it's hard to tell whether the sun that's coming into the office at the back of the house is real of reflected.

The hump to left of the sun in this photo blocks light for a bit before it reaches the next hollow - sun shining from above that hump is the start of things getting back to some sort of normality in the yard.

First karaka, last taupata

After a late morning walk through the pines across the road, I planted the last taupata and the first karaka from the plants brought over by my parents the other day. Sunny day overall with some wind. Cloudy with a shower of rain late afternoon.

Rain and cloud

Wind came up yesterday and has been cloudy and drizzling on-and-off all day. Forecast is looks similar for the rest of the week. One of the warmer days of the last couple of weeks or so, though. No frost.

Looking towards the fridge, hidden by the haze.

Sea Mist

This morning was clear and frosty. Possibly the coldest morning we've had this year. When I started going for a walk mid-morning, there was a bit of cloud around. When the sun came out, a mist developed all along the shore.

Overcast

The sun should start slipping back into the yard now. Overcast today, so hard to tell where the sun is.

Cold Southerly

A cold southerly blowing off the mountains came in today. Have had the odd shower of rain already, possibly more tonight.

Source: tide-forecast.com

Last couple of mornings have been frosty. Looks like tomorrow might be as well - I guess it depends on the rain.

Source: metservice.com

Raining again

It's raining again. All I hear is the rain on the roof, some birds outside, and the faint hum of the fridge in the kitchen behind me.

I'm home alone for a little while with a good book, warm fire, home-made bread, smoked pepperoni, cumin cheese, aged gouda, and a glass of red.

Waking to waves

I awoke to the sound of rough seas this morning.

Aside from the pleasure of watching rough seas from the front window, and the fact that overcast days make living in the shadow of a hill fairly similar to anywhere else (i.e. nobody has sun), winter days like this tend to be warmer in the fridge due to the cloud cover.

Frost

We had our first real frost of the year today. The temperature was still showing at -1 Celsius at noon.

Frost was still on the ground at noon.

Road Closed

It has been quite a mild but wet winter so far. The mildest since we've lived here, but possibly the wettest, too - there has been a big sign at our end of the road for a while now. Some slips have come down near the Waikawa end of the road that goes past our house and loops around the coast back inland to Picton via Waikawa.

More wind and rain

Storm warning for Cook Strait.

Kaipakirikiri Bay

Nice calm morning in Kaipakirikiri Bay today.

One of the reasons for buying a house in this area was the proximity to the Marlborough Sounds.