Snow - going, going, gone

What a week we had.  First the snow came and blanketed everything, a sight not seen in the Wellington Region for almost 40 years.  Then came the rain, which washed most of the snow away.  And now we have sunshine, with just a little snow left clinging to the tops of the ranges.  We needed a walk to stretch our legs so off we went alongside the river bank for a stroll in the sunshine.

Not much snow left on Mt Climie

Further away in the distance, the snow covering was much heavier on the Tararua Ranges.  What a lovely sight it made glistening in the sunshine.

The Tararua Ranges away in the distance

On our way back we came across Mojo, a mixture of poodle, maltese, and miniature snauzer.  “One of those designer dogs with a high price tag”, his owner informed us.  Robin muttered, rather unwisely I thought to Mojo’s Dad, that these sort of mixes used to be known as “mongrels”.  Mojo’s owners had a caravan parked in their driveway, so perhaps we can persuade them to come along with our caravan club sometime soon.

  Mojo, the designer dog

On our final leg home we heard the distinctive whoosh, whoosh as a kereru (woodpigeon) clumsily landed in a tree in front of us.  These large native birds are not at all elegant fliers and crash through the forest from one tree to another as they look for berries to eat.  There was nothing to eat on this particular tree, only bare branches.

Kereru (native wood pigeon)

The weather report promises another fine, but windy day tomorrow, so that should help to dry the wet soggy ground out.  It looks like the bad weather, like the snow, has finally gone.  But there is sure to be some more winter weather on the way before too long.  It is still winter, after all.