The Grey River in Greymouth overtopped its banks after a period of heavy rain in the high country and a metre of water flowed through most of the business area. Damage was estimated to be $2 million. Midday temperatures in the east varied considerably, from 22 at Kaikoura to 9 degrees at Christchurch and 2 degrees at Dunedin.

Humans walk at about three miles an hour, and run at around five. It is the shape and musculature of the human body that determines this. We are nei...