Bracing for the storm ex tropical cyclone Viaunu is barrelling down on NZ There are power outages and flooding in the North The Wairarapa is ok at present but heavy rain and winds expected tonight The orchard should be fine. The last apples & perry pears to be picked up after 🤪 #wairarapa #Cyclone
Yesterday was the Molewood apple festival Such a family affair with horse and trap rides face painting for the children Food trucks BBQ and coffee carts TeePee Cider and Elemental cider stalls Catalyst fruit wine stall and new this year a Vodka producer (made from NZ milk #cider #festival #Wairarapa
Snow on the Tararua ranges yesterday ranges.
It’s cold at the cidery! A polar vortex has spun cold and wild weather over NZ. Snow on the Tararua ranges yesterday well that was a surprise. This morning clear skies but fog and sunny only 5°C! A high is settling over NZ for the next few days. Unusual for the end of summer. #wairarapa #weather
Carterton, Wairarapa region, near Wellington. Surrounded by the Tararua Range...
Late February 2026...
#Carterton #Wellington #Wairarapa #NorthIsland #NewZealand
Twilight over the nature reserve.
Twilight in Wairarapa. Pink glow to the clouds as another day slips by over the nature reserve near Beau Vista orchard. The colours deepen. The ever changing appearance of the pond through the seasons is delightful. Now early autumn. #Wairarapa #Twilight
Carterton sign in a field at sunset.
Carterton. Our local rural town in Wairarapa. Population 6000. It was founded in 1857 and originally known as Three Mile Bush. It was later renamed Carterton after Charles Rooking Carter who was a pioneer here and politician in Wellington . #Wairarapa #Carterton #Taratahi
Civil defence warning.
Power outages today.
Teepee Cider backyard.
Local stream in flood. Yesterday afternoon it was hardly a trickle.
We got a civil defence emergency text last night. And it was spot on. A wild night with wind and rain. Beau Vista orchard fared well considering. Power stayed on. And we (just) avoided flooding. We fared better than most in the region. #nature #storm #wairarapa
Twilight view over the Wairarapa plain looking east from Teepee Cidery.
Twilight last night at the cidery. Nearing the end of a week’s run of good weather. Thunderstorms and cold forecast later today. Luckily we are doing inside jobs for a bit. #apples #cider #cidery #Wairarapa #NZCider
Heavy laden cider apple tree.
The cider apple trees are becoming heavy laden with fruit This cooler wetter summer weather has been good for fruit development but now we need more sunshine to up the sugar content and flavour aroma development over the next month or so Some auto-thinning has been going on #apples #cider #Wairarapa
This is an old nashi type pear found growing in an old abandoned orchard on the Wairarapa coast. Adds some acidity and sugars to the ‘Home Block’ perry blend we make. Growing well despite the poor current season for sunshine hours. Harvest may be later this year #perry #pear #wairarapa #NewZealand
Maisie with the male tassel on top and the side ear with prominent silks at this stage.
House being ‘swallowed’ by the rapidly growing maize.
Maize is becoming an increasingly important and common summer crop for the Wairarapa dairy farmers around Beau Vista orchard helping feed supply and support pasture renewal. Often alternating with winter Italian ryegrass for winter grazing before replanting the maize in spring. #farming #wairarapa
Perry pear.
Rain map of New Zealand.
What to do in the big wet? Photography of course! Dyers Pass perry pears are growing nicely. Not too late for the sun to help before harvest. And luckily Wairarapa is not badly affected like some. Good crop developing. #pear #perrypear #orchard #wairarapa #NewZealand #Aorearoa
"A retired history-lover with a personal library of over 1,000 rare books, his apple varieties and techniques harken back to the golden age of cidermaking in England in the 17th and 18th centuries". #gardenhistory #wairarapa
www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...
Sunflowers in a field.
Summer in the Wairarapa valley (so named by an early Māori explorer Haunui “glistening waters” for the sunlight reflecting of the lake) is not the same without sunflowers. These ones are grown by a farmer in the next village of Greytown or Hūpēnui #sunflowers #summer #wairarapa
#Kikorangi
For anyone looking for a wonderful training environment in the #Wairarapa with the loveliest onsite trainer / owner I highly recommend #WaiWeight private #gym
I train here and totally love it.
www.instagram.com/waiweight/
Seeing all the posts from #AoNZ folks north of me about all the thunderstorms & rain. Meanwhile in the #Wairarapa, we're here wishing for rain! Our pond is almost dry and all of our neighbourhood ducks have gone elsewhere!
View of conservation pond near Beau Vista orchard. Tararua ranges ranges in cloud behind.
Well New Zealand certainly had a weather bomb for Christmas. Pretty well the whole of the country. In the Wairarapa we escaped perry lightly and no damage. Just rain but no high winds No flooding And the rain was welcome as I have been irrigating the new pear orchard. #wairarapa #weather #summertime
Looking north along an isle in the orchard.
Looking south at the orchard over the beech hedge.
Two views of Beau Vista orchard. Now in full leaf and the apples and pears growing. Here's hoping for good weather this Summer to build on the good Spring we have just had. Luckily the bad winds in late Spring did not affect the trees. #orchard #cider #NZCider #wairarapa #Aotearoa
view towards the Tararua Ranges at sunset
Just before sunset the other evening. #AoNZ #Wairarapa #Whakaoriori #NewZealand
Kieran McAnulty, MP for Wairarapa, standing in front of a microphone in the hallway in Parliament, with his black/white greyhound sitting next to him.
This was his cover photo on FB 🐶😍 #nzpol #wairarapa
✨ Wairarapa Tours should be your end of year with a difference!
👉 wairarapatours.com/corporate-ev...
#WairarapaTours #TeamBuilding #CorporateRetreats #Wairarapa #TravelNZ #ExploreLocal #OverTheHill
Looks like if you're in the #Wairarapa, you aren't going anywhere. #AoNZ
UPDATED: 23/10/25 3.50pm
**SH2 closed at Remutaka Hill and Mt Bruce**
Remutaka Hill road remains closed. NZTA has now closed SH2 at Mt Bruce. No alternative route north as Route 52 (via Mauriceville) is also being closed.
weather graph showing the last 4 hours with winds at SE6, N13, E9, SE11
Is this the (long) calm before the storm? We're meant to be getting high winds and even higher gusts (under an orange warning) ... but this is the last 4 hours #Wairarapa #Masterton #AoNZ We went for a walk a while ago and it was just pleasantly breezy (although a big wet).
Screenshot from the Metservice about the Red Wind Warning in Wellington and the Wairarapa. Message from Civil Defence says: "UNDER RED WARNING, STAY HOME UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. STRONG WINDS SEND HAZARDS FLYING"
Fellow Wairarapa and Wellington friends, take care tomorrow.
"UNDER RED WARNING, STAY HOME UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. STRONG WINDS SEND HAZARDS FLYING" #AoNZ #Wairarapa #Wellington
Thursday's weather will be "more impactful than today's" according to the news. We lost power this morning and it was off for 6 hours! I hope Thursday isn't worse!
#Wairarapa #AoNZ
Blossom on apple trees.
Isobar map on NZ with a big high over us.
Rain radar map. None!
It’s apple blossom time at Beau Vista orchard (at last!). Cold morning but promising a good day. A sprinkling of snow on the high ranges. A high is over us after a period of changeable weather fronts. #apples #blossom
#orchard #wairarapa #aotearoa #NewZealand
A close up of Tom Putt apple flower bud.
A cluster of 5 apple lower buds. Deep red and tightly closed.
At last! -the Tom Putt apples (our first apples to blossom) are about to bud burst. The leaves opened first last week revealing these gorgeous deep crimson flower buds. A late but bountiful Spring. #cider #apples #orchard #Wairarapa #NewZealand
Large bluebell swath.
Bluebells in a shady corner.
Bluebells naturalising around the apple trees.
The orchard is changing rapidly now the days are longer and the temperatures are climbing after a slow start to Spring. We are now peak bluebells. They have put on a great show this year. #bluebells #cider #orchard #Wairarapa
New leaves unfurling on apple tree.
New leaves unfurled revealing the blossom bud in the centre.
At last! The leaf buds of Tom Putt, our earliest cider apple trees at Beau Vista orchard are opening. No sign of blossom yet though and most varieties are still dormant. #apple #cider #Wairarapa #Aotearoa #NewZealand
