ST HELIERS BEACH DAY ABANDONED AFTER WEATHER THAT WAS 'FINE FIVE MINUTES AGO' TURNS ON EVERYONE

Guys. Guys. I never thought I'd have to make this video. deep breath. But a St Heliers beach day has ended in towels being wrung out on Tamaki Drive after a sky that was mint at 11.45am decided at 11.51am it was going to be something else.

Okay. So. I want to be transparent with my community. I've been doing the work. I've been sitting with it. And what happened on that beach — the wind, the rain, the seagull that just stood there judging us — that's on me for trusting the forecast app, and I own that.

Local Priya Ngata, 34, was there when it turned. "Fine five minutes ago," she told The Daily Yarn, holding a soggy ciabatta. "Kids were in the water. Now the chilly bin's blown to Mission Bay and my father-in-law's shirt is a kite." She added it was "very Auckland of Auckland."

pause. And to the mums who packed the picnic. To the dads who set up the shade tent that is now, spiritually, in Devonport. To the kids whose sausage rolls got rained on. I am so sorry. I'm growing as a person and I hear you.

MetService, contacted for comment, said conditions were "broadly as forecast" if you'd read the marine bulletin and "honestly, just looked north". A spokesperson added that Auckland humidity "was always going to break, it's just a question of onto whom".

At time of filing, the sun was back out. Priya's father-in-law's shirt has not been recovered. Links below for my new course on accountability.