Welcome to the South, Have a nice day

HAPPY HOLIDAYS: Karin Mittersteiner (left), of Italy, and Nuno Silveira, of Portugal, arrive in Te Anau yesterday to heavy rain, as they head for the akeside holiday park.

Relevant offers

Thunder and lightning, rain and hail have plagued the south this summer – but in Fiordland they're not complaining about it too much yet.

Wet weather continued to dampen Fiordland and Southland at the weekend, with 139mm recorded at Milford Sound in a 24-hour period overnight on Saturday.

Steve Norris, from Trips and Tramps and Fiordland Wilderness Experiences in Te Anau, said the weather had been "terrible" but most tourists accepted it.

"When I pick up people and they say 'is it going to rain all day'? I go 'yep' ... But I say 'you're going to have a great day as long as you get blue skies and sunshine out of your head'," Mr Norris said.

While some tourists were initially disappointed by the weather, they were generally happy with their experience.

Milford Sound Sea Kayaks owner Rosco Gaudin said so far it had been slightly worse than last January's weather. "You've got to roll with the punches when you're in Milford," Mr Gaudin said.

"I've been in there 19 years so it doesn't really faze me that much."

If it continued then it would be a concern. "Summer's not over yet ... I don't start to get too excited after a few weeks of bad weather," he said.

Real Journeys chief executive Dave Hawkey said bookings had been steady for Fiordland and Stewart Island. However, the weather had caused some cancellations for the Stewart Island ferry crossings, Mr Hawkey said.

MetService says the weather is not expected to improve much this week.

Forecaster Chris Noble said while rain would clear tomorrow, more was on its way for later in the week.

January has so far been a month of wild, unseasonal weather. It caused havoc in Invercargill last Thursday when a 15-minute deluge of hail and rain from an intense thunderstorm overloaded drains and a horse was killed when struck by lightning during the storm.

- © Fairfax NZ News