I’m writing this on Wednesday evening, NZ time. There is no wind, the skies are clear if getting dark. You wouldn’t know a weather Red Warning is in place for tomorrow, covering the east coast of the South Island, including Christchurch, up to north of Wellington. Gale force winds of potentially 150kph are expected, trains cancelled, public buildings such as libraries closed and….there is a strike of health workers and teachers. There are wild fires in Canterbury where there is a state of emergency. Makes me wonder what next….
Anyway, I’ve been up in Hawke’s Bay this week for work. There were strong winds on Tuesday as well, but I managed to fly home and was only half an hour late. The work side went well, I heard the first cicadas of the season (I always hear them first up there) and managed to enjoy some outdoors time. Below – a tree full of berries, loved by the birds and a hangi built by students on the campus.
We were also treated to a tour of the greenhouses, where I particularly enjoyed the little lily pond and cacti.
Anyway, better go and make our garden furniture safe while it is still calm.
Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.
Thistles and Kiwis 
Lucky you were home before it sets in. Hopefully it won’t be too bad xx
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Yes! it was a bit windy during the night but the worst is supposed to come this morning. As I type at 7am, there is hardly a breath of wind, but things can change very quickly!
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We have the same weather warnings of gale force winds – stay safe.
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It is a bit worrying that we are getting more ‘red warnings’ – but it can also be to better forecasting and new ways of defining things. Stay safe too!
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I heard about your weather warnings in the news here – hope you were safe inside. 😊
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Oh, gosh! Stay safe. Sounds awful!
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Fingers crossed!
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It is good to know that you are home if there is to be a nasty storm! Here the temperature is 33’C and there are fire warnings over most of our province. We really could do with some rain now.
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Hoping it won’t be as bad as they say. You can have some of our rain…
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Sounds like perfect timing for your trip home.
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Yes I was very happy to get home.
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Hope the storm isn’t too bad! They seem to come thick and fast these days.
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Hoping the forecast is wrong….the worst is supposed to come this morning but so far all is calm…
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There is one forecast for Europe tomorrow but it only seems to go as far as southern England so we might miss it!
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Hope you miss it!
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That sounds quite serious. I know what you mean about the state of the world. What next indeed.
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I think we must be quite sheltered where we are – it is windy and raining but not too bad (I watch a neighbour’s flag pole as an indicator). At the moment at least!
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Long may that continue.
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I suspect what you’re expecting later today is what blasted Victoria and South Australia yesterday and the day before. Here the temperature is soaring to record temperatures. I hope it’s not too bad for you today.
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I think we are sheltered where we are (at the moment) – very strong winds over most of the country. I’m just staying at home though my husband walked to a local shop and said ‘It isn’t that bad’ but he would say that 🙂
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Typical man! 🙂
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Hi Barbara, I hope the weather today isn’t too bad over there and everyone remains safe. Also hope those wildfires in Canterbury get extinguished and the winds don’t get into them! Glad you got home safely from Hawkes Bay! Love that tree full of berries! Thanks for sharing with us at #WWWhimsy xo
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Īt is rather wild and windy. I think where we live we haven’t had the worst of it judging by the news. Ah well…looks dry and sunny tomorrow.
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Wishing you safety from all the storms!
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Thank you! It wasn’t too bad where we are compared to other places. Looks like sun tomorrow!
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I hope those winds didn’t any damage. Yikes! Your photos are beautiful and quite enjoyable.
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There was a lot of damage in other places but not in our suburb. Some of the pictures from other parts of the country showed some awful damage. Thanks for stopping by Michelle!
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I’m glad you were staying home while the storm hit and that you didn’t get it too badly. Here in western Europe (Netherlands specifically) we had a storm warning yesterday too but it wasn’t too bad.
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I think we were lucky where we live – well sheltered.
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What beautiful photos! I hope you survived the wind storm!
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Thank you! We were fine where we were, but other parts of the country were badly hit.
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Unpredictable and scary weather. South Islanders certainly were hammered.
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Yes they really were.
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