Regarding the recent flooding in the South Island, tourists with travel plans in the near future do not need to panic. The latest information we have is as follows: 1. The water levels in the high-water areas of Lake Wakatipu and Lake Wanaka in Queenstown have reached their peak, and the weather has cleared up. This week is expected to be mostly sunny, with no more rain predicted, so the flood risk has been alleviated. Businesses along the shores of Lake Wanaka have resumed operations. The famous Wanaka Tree will remain partially submerged for a while longer due to the still-high water levels. Queenstown is experiencing clear weather, and recent photos show that while the water levels are high, the risk of flooding has diminished. 2. The South Island highways, which were previously closed, have started to reopen. State Highway 72 has resumed traffic, although there is heavy congestion, so travelers should allow extra time if using this route. 3. There is still flooding at the Rangitata Bridge section of State Highway 1, but once the water recedes, traffic will be able to resume. There is also flooding at the intersection of State Highway 1 and State Highway 79. The Timaru District Council has stated on social media that there is no risk of the recently reopened bridges on State Highway 72 being closed again. 4. The goal is to reopen State Highway 6 on the West Coast before Christmas, but this is entirely dependent on the weather conditions. If the weather remains favorable, the road repair progress will be normal, but if there is another heavy rain, it will affect the repair schedule. Therefore, travelers planning to visit the West Coast of the South Island around Christmas and New Year's need to closely monitor the road repair progress. The New Zealand Transport Agency's update on December 10th at 4pm: SH6 - The past two days have been sunny, and road repair progress has been smooth. The agency has been working to clear the landslide section between Fox and Franz Josef towns, aiming to reopen the Hokitika - Makarora section before Christmas. The Whataroa - Harihari section, which has suffered the most damage, is still closed due to multiple landslides, and the agency is striving to reopen it before Christmas ? New Zealand Q&A
Is the light pink one (circled in blue) also a ZTL on the way ? Italy Q&A
We arrived in Paris on the 13th and stayed for 6 days, then drove to Fontainebleau, Lyon, Nice, Monaco, Genoa, Florence, and arrived in Rome yesterday. We were on edge the whole way... First of all, the temperature here is not hot. The wind is quite cold. We have to wear down jackets and woolen hats to keep warm. It is not recommended to drive in the city of Paris. It is difficult to find parking spaces on the road surface. The entrances and exits of underground parking lots are too narrow and difficult to find. Navigation mainly relies on the map built into the Apple phone, which is actually a collaboration with Tom Tom and is very accurate. The maps we downloaded at home are not very reliable, including Google Maps. We were misled several times, even guided to a snow-covered mountain road at night. Maybe it's because we didn't enter the address accurately. Remember to enter the postal code of the region. Google Play needs to be installed to have offline maps, so you must have wireless WiFi. The high-speed rail here is very fast. France is 130 and Italy is 110. I think this is the lowest speed. There will always be cars following me to drive. After all, the car company gave me a top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz E200 station wagon, black German license plate, which is too eye-catching. This caused me to park in the underground garage and dare not park on the road, for fear that my car windows would be broken and my bag would be stolen. All overtaking must be done from the left side, and then the left lane must be given up. It is forbidden to occupy the left lane for a long time. Right-hand overtaking is strictly prohibited, which is very dangerous! Highways need to prepare some 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, 1, and 0.5 euro banknotes and coins in advance. Do not enter the electronic payment channel by mistake. France and Italy have many dark tunnels that are relatively narrow. Overtaking and turning do not slow down. It feels like you're driving a race car, so small cars are popular here. Their control performance is good. Remember not to rent big cars! My Mercedes-Benz is too long, and the city control is really a bit difficult. Those streets, tunnels, and parking lot passages are really narrow! Bring fewer luggage when you go out ? France Q&A