A Rare Morning of Snow on Te Mata Peak
Sun Breaking Through
On the morning of the 5th of August, snow settled on the summit of Te Mata Peak. It doesn't happen often. A cold front that had swept into New Zealand from Antarctica the day before reached Hawke's Bay overnight, dropping the temperature further and faster than most winter fronts manage, and although the forecasters had flagged the chance of snow on the summit, by the time I was awake it had already done its work above the town.
I'd seen it before, once, in 2015, photographed from the attic window of our house with the peak sitting white and improbable above the roofs of Havelock North. Since I moved to Hawke's Bay it has happened three times: 2009, 2011, and that morning in 2015. Three winters out of many. So when I heard the night before that there was a chance of snow on the summit, I set an alarm well ahead of sunrise and didn't think twice about it.
Rainbow over the Snow Line
There wasn't much of a sunrise to speak of. The cloud sat low and dark over the ridge, and what light there was arrived sideways, mixed with sleet that stung more than it settled. The wind at the top had teeth in it, the kind that gets into your hands within minutes and stays there. I walked anyway, following the same trail I usually take people along on workshop mornings, camera in hand, waiting to see what the weather would give me.
It took a while for the spectacle to reveal itself properly. As the light slowly came up, the shape of the ridge emerged from the cloud, snow lying along the grass in long uneven bands, and the whole hilltop took on a texture I had never photographed here. By then the car park was filling. Word travels fast when snow falls somewhere it isn't supposed to, and soon there were families making the walk up, parents steering children by the hand toward their first ever snowfall.
Winter Reaches Mount Erin
I kept walking my familiar route, working the light as it moved. The snow clouds began to pull back off the ridge, and the sun found gaps to come through, briefly and unevenly, catching the wet grass and turning patches of the hillside gold for a minute or two before the cloud closed over again. There even was a rainbow. It was the kind of light that asks you to keep your camera ready rather than put it away, because you never quite know when the next window will open, or how long it will last. I have photographed this peak in every season over the years, in fog, in heat, in autumn colour and winter green, but never with snow underfoot, and walking that familiar trail with it dusted white felt like filling in the one gap I hadn't known I was waiting to fill.
Snow Along the Ridge
By the time I made my way back down, the council had already closed the road, and no more cars were being let up. I passed the barrier and the queue of vehicles trying to find a carpark. It was time to drive home and let a cup of coffee do what the sun hadn't quite managed.
If this rare white morning has you curious about the peak in its more usual moods, I keep a growing gallery of Te Mata Peak images from over the years, through fog, gold evening light, autumn colour, and now, finally, snow. You're welcome to have a look through it and see the place as I've come to know it, one season at a time.
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Snow doesn't settle on Te Mata Peak often — only a handful of mornings since I moved to Hawke's Bay. This time I was ready for it, walking my familiar trail before dawn as sleet gave way to sun, cold hands and all.