Stranded ferry passengers to be on their way by tonight

Nearly 2000 ferry passengers stranded by some of the "worst weather in 35 years" will be on their way by the end of today, Tranzrail says.

Spokeswoman Jo Roberts said a backlog of some 1900 interislander and Lynx passengers should be cleared by tonight.

The Aratere and Lynx were sailing today and the stranded passengers, 1000 in Picton and 900 in Wellington, were being re-booked onto sailings.

"In general people understand it's the weather and there's not much we can do about it," Ms Roberts said.

Although the weather had been some of the worst on record this was traditionally an off-peak time for the service.

The re-bookings meant today's ferries would run at full capacity.

The Arahura, which has been undergoing repairs and maintenance in drydocks in Auckland, would be back in service early on Thursday, Ms Roberts said.

She said ferry master John Hermans had told her he had never known weather like it in the 35 years he had been sailing Cook Strait.

"There was a huge spate of them (storms) between February and Easter, one of our busiest periods," she said.

Five Lynx sailings were cancelled on Sunday and yesterday, while the Aratere was out of action for 36 hours after being hit by a freak wave yesterday.

Elsewhere, the Southern Alps have returned to winter conditions following an icy blast sweeping the South Island over the last two days.

Mt Hutt near Christchurch has reopened after a blizzard provided 20cm of fresh snow.

A base of over half a metre means there is superb skiing and riding on packed winter snow with some great pockets of powder to be found off-piste.

The new season was a great boost for the season, Duncan Smith, nzski.com's general manager, said.

"We've enjoyed a superb season so far and the fresh snow on a good base means all mains areas are looking fantastic right now.

"Low temperatures have returned us to mid-winter and we're looking forward to enjoying the rest of the season."

In Queenstown, conditions are equally good. Coronet Peak has received 10-15cm of new snow and plummeting temperatures means extensive snowmaking is supplementing the natural snowfall.

On the other side of the valley, The Remarkables ware enjoying 15cm of new snow on top of a substantial one-metre base. All the slopes are open including the legendary Homeward Bound, New Zealand's best open run.

- NZPA