Happiness is . . . out of the snow

After two snowy nights in her car waiting for the road to Otira to open, Donna Littleton-taylor yesterday got a warm bed and a hot meal thanks to the kindness of strangers.

Parked just out of Springfield on State Highway 73 in Canterbury, the Otira resident was facing her third night in her car as the road closed for another day yesterday. The road is due to open today.

After Stuff published a story about her plight, an Otaki woman, who does not want to be named, rang around and got Littletontaylor a room with a spa bath at a Springfield motel that was happy to provide it free of charge.

‘‘She’ll be warm and safe tonight,’’ the Otaki benefactor, who donated money for a hot meal, said.

‘‘She just burst into tears when I told her.’’

The huge storm moving up the country has caused the cancellation of ferries and flights, closed roads, flooded towns and knocked out power.

Flooding has hit the Wairarapa and Manawatu, while motorists were warned to keep off the roads in the central North Island, with snow closing the Desert Road, alternative routes SH47 and SH4, and SH5, the Napier-taupo road. Snow was still falling in the South Island and gales and high seas were slamming the Wellington region.

Earlier, as she hunkered down in her car for another night, Littleton-taylor was not complaining.

She had plenty of blankets and food to make the wait in her Hyundai Elantra bearable, she said.

‘‘I’m all good. The road guys check on me and bring me a coffee. I go into town to have a wash and go to the toilet. There’s no need to spend any more money.’’

Littleton-taylor was in Christchurch for radiation treatment for the lung cancer she said was discovered about 10 weeks ago.

She had hoped to return home to Otira on Tuesday night, but the road from Springfield was closed and she decided to stay put at the roadblock until the road opened.

With snow falling heavily at Porters Pass yesterday morning and road workers pessimistic about the road opening, Littletontaylor was settling in for another night.

‘‘It’s not so bad. I’ve got a good book.’’

And before her Springfield benefactor came along, she was most looking forward to a hot bath and a nice cup tea when she got home.

Otira had been home for four years: ‘‘I went there to heal and I just stayed.’’

PHOTO: DAVID WALKER/STUFF The Canterbury town of Springfield, where Donna Littleton-taylor’s trip home to Otira was halted.

PHOTO: PIERS FULLER/STUFF As storm rains lashed Wairarapa, the Ponatahi Bridge, near Martinborough, was washed out by the Huangarua River. More than 60 millimetres of rain fell in Masterton from midnight yesterday.

PHOTO: KARAUNA BROWN A truck stuck on the Napier-taupo road. About 20 motorists trapped on the highway broke into a house and sought shelter yesterday morning after getting stuck in heavy snow. Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence said a group of truckies and motorists trapped on the...

PHOTO: DAVID WALKER/STUFF Otira resident Donna Littleton-taylor has been sleeping and waiting in her car near Springfield since Tuesday.