IN THE GRIP OF FROST

Taranaki Daily News, 11 July 1933, Page 7

IN THE GRIP OF FROST

UNDER A PALL OF FOG.

WINTER IN CENTRAL OTAGO.

For a period off and on of about a month Central Otago has been shrouded in fogs which have hung day and night over a large portion of that part of the province. Combined with this freak o the weather the severest frosts have been experienced, and the result is that from Alexandra to Wedderburn the country resembles in appearance a great, fairyland of nature. Hoar frost three inches in length hangs from every twig and fence; through the drifting mists tall poplars and spreading firs loom out frozen stiff and white against the grey background of fog; long arms of ice reach out into every running stream, and dams and lagoons carry a coating many inches in thickness. Scarcely anything more picturesque of its kind can be imagined than a clump of willows, with every bough drooping heavily under its coating of rime, the. black trunks sharply contrasting with the snowy whiteness of the branches. At Ida Valley on Friday morning the icicles on the railway tanks were many feet in length, and one enormous mass lying broken off on the ground was fully two feet in thickness. Netting fences formed a solid white mass for mile after mile, and the power lines sagged threateningly with the weight of many days frost. Sheep and cattle were scarcely less white than the ground over which they moved, and feeding from hay and lucerne stacks was everywhere in progress. When the higher country at Wedderbum was reached the enveloping curtain was breaking, and then indeed the whole landscape was a thing of beauty. The snow white grass and frozen trees glittered and sparkled in the sun; every icicle became a diamond point of flashing reflections; away in the distance the jagged ridge of the Matakanuis cut the blue line of the horizon. To the people of Central Otago the continuous, deadening fog and frost may be proving more than usually trying, but to those unaccustomed to the sight a journey through the countryside at the . moment is one of unfailing charm and interest.