Brr!!!

Remember that song by Crowded House - Four Seasons in One Day? That's pretty much what New Zealand's reputation is, weather wise. And we Kiwis have definitely experienced that.

I am somewhat of a wuss when it comes to dealing with cold weather. I really, really don't like winter.

So why am I getting excited when there's a little bit of snow around? Well, the truth is, I haven't seen a lot of snow.

Shock, horror. But very true!

I think I was ten years old the first time I saw snow. Where we used to live, we would get frosts and the temperature would get down to about one or two degrees celsius, but that was pretty much it.

We lived in a small city which was surrounded by ranges, so we were sort of down in a valley. And here in New Zealand, well, the North Island at least, it doesn't get cold enough for the snow to get down to sea level.

Anyway, when I was ten, my dad decided to take us on a little (as we call them here) tiki tour up to the top of the Tararua Ranges. And there was snow on them thar hills. It wasn't all that deep but it was enough.

My brother and I had an awesome time making snowballs. There wasn't enough snow for a snowman. And of course, we discovered that snow isn't nearly as clean and 'romantic' as the books we used to read painted it to be. It's dirty and wet and cold, and it really is just like blocks of ice.

That was pretty much the first and last time I had anything to do with snow. I haven't been back there since and the closest I've come to seeing snow again is driving along the Desert Road and seeing the dusting of snow on Mt Ruapehu. Beautiful from a distance.

Until this week.

Our weather forecasters predicted it last month and it didn't really happen. But this time, it looked like they were right on the button.

I live in Auckland. It's our biggest city with more than a quarter of our population. And Auckland is one of those places in New Zealand that doesn't experience snow. The last reported time was apparently in 1939 - the year my father was born.

And today, it snowed. Such a rare and unique event in the life of Aucklanders (even though I'm not an Aucklander and still don't consider myself to be). Hence my excitement. Not that it was much. But just enough to show that, yes, it can happen.

Right now, I'm under warm blankets, feeling nice and toasty, and glad I'm not out in the cold and dark. But yeah, I'm kind of giddy. Maybe I'm too old for that, at my ancient age, but I don't care. Because hey, it snowed in Auckland!