We had quite the weekend in Marlborough - our trip coincided with the biggest floods the region has experienced in living memory! Mandy had us settled in brilliantly on the Friday afternoon. By the Friday night the storm was raging, and unfortunately a big tree fell on our rental car @ 2:30am, severely damaging it and well & truly waking us up. We knocked on Mandy & Patrick's door during the middle of the night, they took us in and gave us a bedroom in their house. This was much appreciated!! Later in the morning, they drove me back to the airport to pick up another rental car. A couple of hours later, we all received an emergency text from Civil Defence telling us to evacuate the area immediately. Pretty full on for Mandy & Patrick, as their property was close to the river, with threat of bursting it's banks. They took us to their friend's place, where we spent the next night in comfortable accommodation and on higher ground. Quite a weekend to share together, and we feel we made new friends in Mandy & Patrick!