On the way from Christchurch to the West Coast these lupins grow with gay gusto in the stoney river flats not long before the road reaches Arthurs Pass and crosses the main divide. Half an hour later I had crossed that divide and was in torrential rain....in my car of course with windscreen wipers working overtime. Here the rain clouds are doing their best to encroach on the drier eastern side of the South Island. I don't think they got much further.