GORDON LIGHTFOOT | Culture
CAN’T BEAT IT ON A GOOD DAY THOUGH
As flights were cancelled, power lines came down and wheelie bins launched themselves across the country, local man Dylan “Dyl” McKenzie described this week’s extreme weather as “quite windy, ay.”
While the rest of the country watched dramatic footage of roofs peeling off sheds, the 31-year-old Wellington courier pulled on his favourite hoodie and got on with his day.
“I saw the warnings pop up on my phone,” said Dyl quizzically. “Said something about ‘damaging gusts’ or something. Bit breezy but that’s Wellyz. Be weirder if it wasn’t windy.”
The veteran of many southerlies began his day with a coffee on Lambton Quay before heading off to work. “Naturally I don’t even bother with an umbrella on a normal day,” he said. “Once it turns inside out, it’s game over.”
As the city braced for “severe and hazardous conditions,” Dyl could be seen strolling down Willis Street like it was a calm spring morning, squinting slightly as a storefront sign cartwheeled past him.
“I guess it’s rough out there,” he admitted, “but if you wait for the wind to stop before doing anything in Wellington, you’d never do anything.”
Flatmate Marcus said the wind didn’t seem to bother him at all. “He came home, cracked a beer and said, ‘Bit of a gust out there.’ Meanwhile, our letterbox is halfway to Karori.”
As officials urged people to stay inside and secure loose objects, Dyl remained unfazed. “Wind’s gonna wind,” he said, shutting his front door against a fresh gust. “You live here long enough, you just get used to yelling your conversations.”
More to come.
