Snow fell in Stratford - from the back of a truck
When you can’t go to the snow, Stratford brings it to you.
The central Taranaki town may be a couple of hundred metres below freezing level but that didn’t stop the snowballs flying around the town square on Friday afternoon.
With Pembroke Rd to Mt Taranaki’s Manganui skifield closed until at least Friday afternoon, many people in the town couldn’t wait for the chance to get their hands on some of the powdery white stuff.
That’s when the Stratford District Council (SDC) and road contractor Inframax stepped in, with two truckloads of snowy goodness dumped on Prospero Place and another one due later in the day.
A small crowd of warmlywrapped children watched expectantly as the snow was dumped on the footpath before the yell went out to ‘‘go for it’’.
From then on the snow balls began to fly and no-one was safe with children and adults alike trading missiles.
One well prepared youngster had brought a sled along and proceeded to slide down the large pile of snow before clambering back up to the top.
In between dodging snow balls, 11-year-old Tavish Graham said he was having great fun.
And the best part af throwing them back.
Jonny Mercer brought his daughter Eve down to have a play.
The five-year-old was right in the thick of it, with a grin on her face as she lobbed a ball of snow at her dad.
Mercer said the idea of bringing snow into the town was fantastic.
‘‘Especially during the holidays, on a day like today everyone is like what do we do,’’ he said. it all;
‘‘And it comes on the old Facebook ‘snow fairies’ or whatever they’re talking about and the kids are loving it.’’
There was a bit of confusion around when the snow would come, with the council hinting at it with a post just after 9am saying the snow fairies would be coming after 10am.
When it arrived at midday, some children had even spent a couple of hours eagerly awaiting it.
SDC director of community services Kate Whareaitu said there was even one boy who had never seen snow and was waiting for his chance.
Whareaitu said it was the second time in a few years the council had brought snow to the town and she was happy with the response.
‘‘It always goes down a treat,’’ she said.
‘‘We couldn’t have asked for a better response.’’