Rainshine and sunfall

That Dunedin bloody weather! It s midd of December now, officially summer and thats what I am wearing INSIDE right now: Merino leggins with Jeans, thick Merino singlet, 3/4 shirt, gardigan and a fleece!! When on the bike I add/replace this: When a lot of uphill, swap the Jeans with shorts. Take off fleece, and cardigan, push sleeves up. When down hill: Add a windproof Jacket, sometimes doubled with rainjacket.
On my daily 9 km bike from the school on the hill (teacher aide) to the school at the beach (after school care) yesterday, I started with all layers on including a raincoat. Had to stop halfway down the hill and put on rain trousers. Had to stop again 1 km later because there was no stormy rain anymore but bright sunshine so I needed to take off a few layers. The battle against the front wind along the harbour was exhausting and felt harder than the 190 meters of altitude up Pine Hill. So when I reached the school I was covered in sweat and 10 minutes late.

Example 1: A weekend not so long ago. Louie and me set off for a decent bike tour close tho town yet pretty wild. Our plan was to start in one of the official MTB Parks and head off to Swampy Summit/ Pineapple Track and cut down through the brushy Tussock Gras to another MTB track. That was the plan, we nearly stuck to it ;). So the weather talk: We started in bright sunshine, even worth to put on the 50 + suncream, pack sunglasses and head off in T-shirt/ singlet. After loosing a bit of sweat and breath, we reached the Swampy Summit after a while aaaaand: It starts hailing! Louie reached the top first, dropped his bike and jumped into shelter behind a fairly large Tussock Gras bush. I followed, and there we sat, sheltered by the bush and watching in disbelieve how those hail stones covered the ground with the sea and sunshine in the far background. A good moment for a laugh and a snack!

Example 2: Saturday last weekend: Louie and me are happy to see blue sky and sunshine when we open the curtains and decide to give the climb at Port Chalmers a crack. One hour later we are off, pleasing 20 °C, but sky looks already grey at Grant Street, but towards Port Chalmers it looks fairly good. We reach, talk to some other climbers we happen to know and are thrilled about the news, that there is a multi-pitch to conquer. Awesome and off we go. Sky looks blue with some clouds and Louie starts on the first pitch. Few minutes later he reaches the first anchor and sets up the first belay. I notice the first cold raindrops. We decide that instead of me climbing up, he will abseil. 20 seconds later its pouring and the temperature lowers about 7 °C. By the time Louie is down we are both soaked and climbing is cancelled for today.

Good news: The next day we were more lucky and managed to reach the top belay between the spittings :).

Don t miss understand: I am not complaining here. A bit warmer would be fantastic, but weather never stays long here. That applies both for the dry and wet and the warm and cold. Temperature changes of 12 °C are normal and so is packing rain gear and extra layers pretty much every day. I can tell that I am getting used to it. It s a fantastic experience to see that our human bodies simply adapts to whatever circumstances it is in. I have still got cold feet and hands most of the time though. Nothing to worry about.

So people to visit: Prepare for sun, heat, cold, wind (!!), rain, hail and everything in between 😉
(–> (Merino) Layers and the “Zwiebelschalenprinzip” is the key. )