I was trying to finish a story about a recent trip to India, despite all the noise and commotion around the corner from where I was staying. Eventually, I gave in and went for a look-see ... and this is what I discovered... The biggest Maori cultural event in Hawke's Bay, the 2018 Ngati Kahungunu Kapa HakaFestival, held in Wairoa.

The regional competition is a qualifying event to see who will perform at the 2019 Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival for the Kahungunu region.

An ex tropical cyclone has come to play.

Mary Poppins moments can be expected if one ignores the weather forecast

Shades of Dorothy blown in by cyclonic winds have the capital in a tizzy, and somewhere over the rainbow a storm is brewing.
It’s grim.  
But I remain optimistic.
There’s “nowt can’t be remedied by galoshes and a sou’wester,” granny always said when great scudding clouds threatened my childhood adventures.
But this odyssey calls for gumboots or waders … or a submarine.
Wellington boots in wellington.
The story is practically writing itself.
Then the rain turns horizontal and wind speeds top 200km/h and my smugness - along with much of the surrounding topsoil – is washed away by Ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie’s deluge.
Wellington’s compact but usually bustling CBD with its soaring verticality of business and commerce is almost deserted.
As I slosh through ankle-deep puddles towards a patisserie wafting nostril twitching loveliness, I notice a few panicky Wellintonians scurrying home, battling an invisible, blustery foe doffing hats and flipping brollies.    
Enough.
I’m off.
I decide to forgo the Wellington leg of the trip.
I ‘plan B’ and drive/sail to my lodgings in Plimmerton.
I hunker down for the night, wake early, dodge the razor and head off.
According to the weather forecast, apparently there’s a tiny piece of blue sky somewhere north and I am determined to find it.

Sometimes, as a freelance writer, you need to live spherically and think laterally.

The offending looking glass in all of its glory

Being a travel writer will not make you rich.

In fact, most of the time, it's quite the opposite - sitting under a tree eating walnuts.