Daily Photo – Rain at Auckland Airport

I was in Auckland for a period of time, most of which I could spend as I pleased. My plan had been to see the city the way I prefer to see most places, which is on foot. Public transport would only be used where absolutely necessary, preferably when hills became unreasonable or distances began to resemble something more suited to a road trip.

Before landing at Auckland Airport, I had spent much of the flight reading about possible spots I might like to visit and then plotting potential walking routes around the city. By the time the seatbelt signs came on for landing, I had what I believed to be a fairly respectable itinerary.

All of that changed the moment we came in to land, because it was raining.

Not the gentle, polite sort of rain you can wander about in without much concern. This was hard, heavy, determined rain that makes you question whether leaving a building at all is a sensible life choice. The kind that falls with such enthusiasm that even ducks might consider staying indoors.

In fact, the MetService were warning that the expected wind and rain might soon become serious enough to cause real disruption across the city and surrounding areas.

Having disembarked from the plane, I stood watching the rain pelt down across the runways, dissolving the city into a white mist where it ought to have been. Since I hadn’t brought a jacket, it became clear that my carefully planned walking itinerary was about to undergo a fairly substantial rethink.