(This is the Online column, written for The Southland Times)
By the time you read this, I will (if all goes according to plan) be somewhere on the Gold Coast with a glass of wine in one hand and a good book in the other.
When I went to work on Friday morning (September 17) , we’d decided our wee holiday would be a road trip to Wellington. However, when I left the office mid-afternoon on Friday the grey sky was putting something of a dampener on the road trip plans.
Never mind, we then decided that to blow away the dreary grey skies we’d hop across the ditch to relax on the Gold Coast. We booked our flights and accommodation, paid for our travel insurance and went about our business happy in the knowledge that come Monday morning, we’d be winging our way to some Aussie relaxation.
Then it snowed. And then it snowed some more. And then it just snowed like a world-class snowy thing.
Our driveway disappeared, Sky stopped working (we had to sweep snow off the dish, more than once) and my net connection became decidedly dodgy.
I was getting worried: would we be able to even get to the airport? Were we going to be having a holiday at home? And, even worse, were we going to be having a holiday at home with no Sky Television (yes, I know I complain about it breaking down all the time but I do have something of a love-hate relationship with my Sky connection). And finally, a holiday at home with no Sky and, worst of all, no net connection?
By Saturday night I was obsessed with the snow and the possibility of it doing the decent thing and buggering off. I mean, really, what does one do when stuck in the house, snowbound, with nothing on telly to watch and no internet? I’ve heard tales of wives having conversations with husbands but that sort of cruel behaviour just can’t be true.
It just shows you how much we’ve come to rely on our techy diversions, though.
And it also makes you appreciate just how well they work most of the time.
We might have got a whole lot of snow but at least we missed out on the major power outages experienced further north.
Imagine that, no Sky, no internet and not even a light to read your book by.
Mother Nature’s been a busy old girl of late, with earthquakes, floods and storms. Let’s just hope she’s ready for a holiday, too (just not on the Gold Coast).