Waiting

This morning Kiwilizzie and I had to go up to Nelson for a meeting. There had been a lot of snow in the night but the road was open and we never really thought about there being any issues, so off we went. On the way we passed this row of trucks waiting at the bottom of the Hope Saddle. We were allowed through but it was still too dangerous for the trucks.

We stopped at the top of the hill to take photos and I had a chat to the roadman there. He said that there was a group of trucks being let through from the Nelson side but that we must take extra care because of ice and traffic. At the bottom of the saddle we came across a pair of New Zealand's finest (police - I've been trying to load a photo into my blipfolio but it's not letting me for some reason) doing their job to try to keep our roads safe.

The roadman had mentioned that there had been 16 accidents between the top of the Hope Saddle and Nelson - we saw a few of them. Man that ice had been dangerous!

Before we even made it into Nelson we got a call saying that it had begun to snow heavily at home and that they were closing the school and sending all the students home. At much the same time they officially closed the Hope road - meaning we are stuck in Nelson. We've kept an eye on things all day and were told at 5 that they were going to open the road for 15 minutes just to let trucks through and that then it would be closed for the night.

We were too far away to get there in time for the short time it was open. We've since been told that it's now open again (9pm) but I'm blowed if we're attempting it with the amount of ice about. So here we are, staying in Nelson for the night. Just as well I have an accommodating sister.

Thanks Leigh!