I slept in my van on the top of the Takaka Hill last night and woke to a snow fall. It must have just begun as I woke because there was no snow on the ground. I watched from my sleeping bag, with a warm flask of coffee, as it settled on spider webs and the tops of fence posts.
This was the view from my campsite. Just a light dusting across the hill tops, but its enough to annouce the arrival of winter.
The Riwaka valley packed with kiwifruit, apples, pears, hops, and many other crops was already looking thawed by the time I was halfway down the hill.
This afternoon I peeled cooked and preserved 4.5 litres of stewed apple. They were going to be apple quarters but... well, you live and learn :) They will still taste just as good baked in apple crumble and smothered in custard in the middle of winter.
7:58:59 PM 
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