Sprung!

Spring is here at last: three tui squabbling in the kowhai tree this morning, freesias out and scenting the air, blossom on the plum tree and green buds on the fig. How nice to live in Auckland and not Invercargill, where what the media are excitably calling a 'weather bomb' dropped heavy snow on them yesterday, bringing down both the temperature and the sports stadium, which collapsed under the weight of it. We've had our share of squalls and heavy rain, but in between the sun is shining and it's warm. Lovely!

And how perverse of us to be planning to go away next month and swap all this burgeoning for autumn's dying fall. Actually, fall is right - we'll be in Washington state, driving around in a circuit through the North Cascades from Seattle, so though we'll undoubtedly see rain, there'll also be plenty of colour. Just orange and red rather than blue and yellow.

We don't mind: it's a beautiful time to be in the US, and we loved every bit of Massachusetts a few years ago, especially the Berkshires. Oh, and Cape Cod, of course. And Nantucket. Boston, naturally. Ahem. We loved every bit of Massachusetts. Especially the colour.