Windy Wellington

Wellington is well-known for being a windy city. We're right on the southern tip of the North Island of New Zealand, and when the wind funnels through Cook Strait, which is the body of water between the North and South islands, it blows right into Wellington harbour and knocks us off our feet. The north-westerlies are the worst - and my house faces north-west, so I get hit pretty bad sometimes.

That's why I enclosed my conservatory, which used to be an open verandah - so that I could actually open my front door in a north-westerly and not get blown away. When I bought my house, I didn't notice the wind-sculpted trees in the back garden, but I sure notice them now.

The last month or so has been incredibly calm by Wellington standards - there's been not a single breath of wind for days on end. I mentioned this to my friends last night, as we were gathered outside around the fireplace in Lou and Jason's back yard. The night was cold - but calm and still.

Soon after I got home yesterday evening a little breeze sprang up, and today it's been building into a howling gale. I hate the wind when it's like this - it puts me on edge, and I can't relax until it's passed.

*sigh* I should have kept my mouth shut last night....

Here's a wee video of my back garden in a mad north-westerly a couple of years ago. I seem to remember it was gusting over 150km/hr. I was quite frightened - and rather worried that my shed was going to blow away. I was standing in my dining room, filming through the window. You can hear the wind howling and the chimney rattling like crazy on the tin roof. You can also hear me saying "This is pretty scary. My shed... is moving. It's shaking!" It was, too.




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