Parts of the South Island woke to freezing temperatures, ice, and snow on Sunday morning.
The wintery conditions stopped Dunedin motorists in their tracks and kickstarted the school holidays for kids.
"We were very, very, very, very, very, very, very excited to see snow," said a child playing in the snow in Wakari, Dunedin.
"It's really snowy today and cold and frosty on cars," said Blake and Liam Weaver, who had been having snowball fights with their family.
Although Kyle Wilson braved the wintery conditions in shorts and said he did not feel the cold.
"Not really, my school uniform for the past three years kind of forced me to have shorts," he told Newshub.
But the snow and ice were not all fun and games - motorists on Dunedin's Stuart Street ran into trouble with black ice.
Steven Hughs was driving his neighbour to work when he got caught out by the black ice and had to stop.
"I just started slipping and pulled up here," he said.
Luckily fire crews were on hand to help, laying down grit on the icy road and assisting motorists to safety.
Wintery conditions also forced organisers to abandon thoroughbred racing at Wingatui in Dunedin.
West of Dunedin in Clutha, the snow came thick and fast.
"Some places in Southland and Clutha, they've had 15 centimetres of snow down to 200m which is a lot of snow, which is heavy snow," said MetService meteorologist Jared Barrow.
And the wintery blast isn't over yet - with MetService forecasting more winter weather to come.
"The South Island will still see snow overnight and in the morning but the snow level will rise," said Barrow.
Bringing more winter delights and snowball fights.
