Today will be the fifth day compacted snow has prevented Francis Ramsay (77) leaving her Lindsay Rd, Caversham Valley, property.
The partially disabled woman said she was unable to walk over the ice and snow, was not willing to drive her car over the ice, and was staying put on the shady, steep street.
"I put up with it for a few days and thought I'd go out [yesterday] and get some milk. I got to the mailbox and thought 'Oh dear, I think I better go inside. This is crazy'."
She rang the Dunedin City Council to ask if her street could be gritted, but was told it was "only a bit of ice now" and they could not help her.
"They obviously don't know what this street is like. This is a public road with a lot of people living on it. They need to do something.
"I'm just lucky I've got a well-stocked cupboard."
Council senior contract supervisor Bruce Wood said this had been a "quite amazing" weather event, and the extent of the ice was unusual.
Making the call on which roads were gritted was hard.
The council was aware "quite a few" people in the hill suburbs were still stuck in their homes yesterday, Mr Wood said.
"Unfortunately, those people just have to wait until the ice has melted."
He advised anyone in that situation to be in touch with neighbours, friends and family, and try to find someone with a 4WD vehicle who could reach them.
