Cold
rainy sleety day yesterday, followed by a harsh frost last night (though not as harsh as some places – according to The Press, it got down to -20oC up at Lake Pukaki last night!!!) means that the entire city is coated with ice this morning. Getting to work was a bit of a challenge as a result – I set out to walk, but realised half way down my driveway that wasn’t going to be an option. Having grown up in Central, I’m pretty good at walking on black ice, but walking nearly 4km on it did not at all appeal (quite apart from the fact that I’d have to walk so slowly so as not to fall over that there’s no way I’d get there on time).
So I decided to catch the bus instead, which turned out to be not much faster than walking, because the traffic was moving so slowly, with everyone being super cautious because of the ice (for those of you from Northern Hemisphere type places with proper winters who are wondering why the council hadn’t salted or gritted the roads, that’s because this kind of weather happens so rarely here that nobody’s prepared for it, so the council doesn’t actually have any of the equipment or materials they’d need for such a job. It’s the same when it snows – the city just shuts down for the day…). Listening to the chatter over the bus driver’s radio, it sounded like there were quite a few accidents happening despite the cautious driving. I finally made it into work half an hour late, to find a message from my boss saying he wasn’t coming in at all – he normally bikes in, but couldn’t keep his bike upright for more than a few metres at a time, so decided to work from home. Wish I’d thought of that!
Oh well, at least I’m in my nice warm(ish) office now, and don’t have to go out again until this evening (well, unless I venture out to the student cafe later for a nice warming hot chocolate), by which time hopefully the ice will have thawed. Yay winter.