New Zealand is Sinking Man, and I don't Want to Swim!

We moved to New Zealand for the scenery, the experience, the people, and the weather. And when I say weather, I mean the absence of Canadian winter, more so than the presence of anything Kiwi. Don't get me wrong, I love snow as much as the next guy, and lets face it Christmas was not quite right at 30 C. When deciding to move to New Zealand, we  were prepared for rain. And, after discovering that Christchurch was to be our home, we were prepared for earthquakes, earthquakes and glorious dry weather. But on the penultimate day of the April calendar, I must say I was ill-prepared to be sinking.  


Canterbury has been unseasonably wet this month. Historically, 19mm of rain is expected in the month of April, making it one of the more dry months. We have just endured 170mm, 50 of which has come in the last 24 hours rendering my back and front yards a swimming pool. There are road closures, and the river is flooding across the city that was built on a swamp, go figure. The sad part is, most of the flooding (though not as bad as March of this year, which saw proper flooding after 100mm fell in a 12 hour period) affects the areas that were also mostly drastically damaged by the earthquakes, as if these people haven't suffered enough 


But, at least it is not shaking, right now. And  at least I am not having to warm up my car, or shovel my drive. And at least our roof is not leaking, yet. So, Canada, I guess this is payback for what I hear was a pretty brutal winter. And although I am thoroughly soaked, I am on holiday until Sunday, and a little dampness trumps -40C any day of the week.