Winter Wonderland

Last weekend, Andy and I took a trip out to Castlepoint, a coastal town about two and a half hours northeast of Wellington. It’s located in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand and requires driving over the Rimutaka Mountain Range to get there. In the days leading up to our trip, the Rimutaka road was closed a few times due to snow and ice. Luckily, it opened up in time for our journey.

When we got to the highest point of the range, we stopped at a pullover spot to enjoy the view and let Higgs experience snow for the first time. There are usually a handful of cars here, but this time it was nearly impossible to find parking. The place was overrun with families enjoying the winter weather and children throwing snowballs. Wellington doesn’t get snow very often, so it’s something of a novelty here.

The weather had warmed up enough that the windy road itself wasn’t treacherous, but there was still enough snow to enjoy.

Higgs was overjoyed to experience this weird new white stuff.

“Yum!”

Sunlight broke through the clouds at the absolute perfect time.

It was amazing to see snow against an almost tropical backdrop.

I don’t think I wore the best shoes, but hey, feels like home!

Even in the winter, the gorse is still in bloom up here.

It looks surprisingly pretty for an incredibly sharp and extremely invasive pest.

Snow dusted the highest peaks of the Rimutakas surrounding us, but lower down, everything had melted.

We walked up the slippery slope to the highest lookout spot, and Higgs got to meet a snowman along the way. (Not pictured here: the snowman he peed on.)

You can just see the smile on his doggy face.

The view was even more incredible from this vantage point.

And look who had to hop in, front and center.

The rest of the drive to Castlepoint was snow-free, and we made it to our bach (vacation house, for the non-Kiwis) just after dark. So much more to come, but I’ll leave you with this shot of Higgs hamming it up for the camera.