The Otago rugby team has headed north, while two Dunedin-based hockey teams and the Caversham football side are stuck in the capital and may not even get home today.
The storm battering the country closed Dunedin International Airport, making a frustrating day for the stranded teams.
The Otago rugby side was due to fly back to Dunedin from Hamilton yesterday, but instead headed north to Auckland.
Manager Hugh Tait said there were more flights out of Auckland and the side was booked to fly out at 2pm today on a direct flight to Dunedin.
The team was scheduled to play Manawatu at Forsyth Barr Stadium tomorrow night with the Manawatu team due in Dunedin today.
Tait said if Dunedin airport was closed today they could leave it as late as early tomorrow, travelling on the day of the game. The union would have to pay the extra costs, though it had not worked out the amount.
With a team of 30, including management, the cost will be significant.
The side was recovering yesterday and would train in Auckland this morning. It would then have a light run at the new stadium tonight if it got back on time.
Tait said it was just business as usual for the team, albeit at a different venue.
The Caversham football team, coming back from an unsuccessful trip to Napier, where it lost the Chatham Cup semifinal to Napier City Rovers, was hoping to get on a flight last night from Wellington but that flight was cancelled.
It may not now get back to Dunedin until tomorrow.
Air New Zealand paid for the Sunday night stay in Wellington but its policy was to pay for only one night's accommodationCoach Richard Murray said because they were diverted in flight the cost for the delay for the initial one night was met by the airline.
But the squad was now looking round to see what accommodation was available and was having discussions with Air New Zealand about meeting costs for the extra stay.
The travelling squad of 17 had endured a tough couple of days, Murray said.
The plan was now to fly to Auckland this afternoon and catch a flight to Dunedin this evening, arriving back in the city about 9pm, weather permitting.
The two Southern hockey teams are also in the same boat and will have to take a hit in the cheque book after being stranded in Wellington.
The team had just spent a week in the capital, competing in the National Hockey League.
Southern men manager Ronald Hutton said the men's side moved into the same motel in Wellington as the women's side though many of the women's side left the motel on Sunday night and went and stayed with parents of players, to cut down on costs.
The sides were originally scheduled to return late on Sunday. With most of the two sides made up of students and not having a lot of spare money, the association would be forced to pay the extra expense.
The players had to be fed and accommodated and he estimated the cost to the association would be about $2000.
Members of the two teams were scheduled to fly back to Dunedin over the next couple of days, weather permitting.
Southern Storm captain Vicky Clarke-Joyce managed to book an early flight home on Sunday and got to Dunedin on Sunday afternoon.
Ironically, that flight was almost empty, Hutton said, but it was decided not to book all the players on it because of the extra expense.
