It may be the start of daylight saving but unseasonably snowy weather has been causing chaos in the deep south.
High winds and a sudden snowstorm disrupted Queenstown on Saturday, closing the Lindis Pass, the airport, the gondola and even the skifields.
Friday was a balmy 17.6 degree day but on Saturday Coronet Peak, which is closed for the season, was covered in snow.
The weather is not typical for the end of September and took even the most seasoned Queenstown farmers by surprise. It's the start of the lambing season but a mild spring until now means so far so good.
In Queenstown itself, 20 millimetres of rain fell in three hours and the gondola was forced to close for a time as the rain turned into sleet and snow.
Queenstown's weather expert David Crow says no one forecast this much snow and to get 10 centimetres is really unusual for September.
But the whiteout makes for a fun start to the school holidays.
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