Swathes of gold ...

..... above Arrowtown; a wintery scene with some Autumn gold still hanging there.

A family joy today, with a bonny baby girl born to my granddaughter & her husband. Rejoicing!

And mixed with the joy is worry & concern about the state of regional emergency in Canterbury & Christchurch, with horrendous rainfall, terrible flooding & destruction. There are some very distressed people up there who have lost their livelihoods, stock, farmlands, and houses & people evacuated. The rains & winds have been appalling.