Those of us who live in New Zealand know that we can have warm days in winter and cold days in summer. We also know that the weather in the north can be entirely different from the weather in the south. Likewise, the weather in the west is often the opposite of the weather in the east. These last few days, the weather in the east of the South Island has been fine and warm while the west has had heavy rain, bringing flooding. A small one-lane bridge on the West Coast was washed away by a flooded river. Dairy tankers cannot collect the milk from farmers on the other side of the river until there is a replacement bridge. Some farmers had to dump the milk.
Heavy rain meant that 120 trampers on the famous Milford Track could not get out for 24 hours.
Central Otago had snow on the hills and on Lindis Pass. However, roads stayed open. This is very surprising weather for mid-summer.
The forecast for nearly the whole country is for fine weather during the weekend.
Vocabulary
• entirely – totally
• likewise – the same
• one-lane – cars going in one direction have to wait for cars going in the other direction
• dairy tankers – trucks that collect milk from dairy farms and take it to the dairy factory. The milk is inside a closed tank, like a cylinder (similar to a petrol tanker).
• replacement – another one in its place
• dump – throw it away, probably pour the milk onto a paddock
• tramper – hiker (British English), a person who walks in the forest, hills or mountains
Note: ‘different from’ – you can also say ‘different to’. American English allows ‘different than’.