Central Otago's paradoxical weather

It is hard to believe that we could have just experienced two extremely contrasting days of Central weather.

Outside food preparation.


Saturday, although a little overcast and slow to warm, provided us with a beautiful late autumn day. So lovely in fact we were able to entertain our lunch guests outside in the sun.  Geoff, Pauline and two of her grandchildren joined us for an Italian themed lunch - minestrone soup served with ciabatta bread, followed by a selection of pizzas and wedges, and finished with a piece of fudgy chocolate brownie. All of this was enjoyed with a wine for the adults and some grape juice and soda water for the children. 

The afternoon was completed with the children harvesting our ‘200’ olives  from our one and only tree, its very first harvest. (Watch this space to see what I do with them next.)

Olive harvest.

Sunday morning couldn’t have been more different. During the night a strong wind had come up and we were told it was gusting up to 120km per hour. Not long after we got up the wind died right down and the rain started. We have never seen such rain here in Clyde. It persisted down ALL day and so much so that we weren’t tempted to even so much as poke our nose out through the door. It was a day for indoor activities with the heater on, the tele on and lots of hot drinks throughout the day.

A check of the Met service website this morning confirmed what we already knew. There had been a lot of rain. In fact, 59mm which is about 17% of Central Otago’s annual rainfall of 365mm.  Wow.
(25mm = 1 inch)

Alexandra's weather stats