mazi

Have you been taking lessons? You're turning Kiwi already! (Re. my post on the ways Kiwis say stuff)

Agree with what you say about how it can be difficult to make people understand when you are making a joke or being a lot less light-hearted about something than it may seem in writing - and how the use of smilies helps!

SO, please take this post as a light-hearted joke - everyone

mazi

Northland definitely got the better end of the deal on the weather front but there is a lot of rain. Tauranga and the whole BOP (in the three years I was there) had a lot of flooding with houses slipping down the hills and floating down the river as did Hamilton (one year in particular). The Waikato in general has a lot of rain and is a bit dreary in the Winter - a bit Northern European but with less bite. When the sun shines it shines -it's uncomforatbly bright, you nees sunglasses virtually everyday that it's not raining because even cloudy skies can be a bit piercing. The sun BURNS. QUICKLY. But it is very nice to see the sun shining, it does make the colours of the landscape especially beautiful, and who doesn't feel more cheerful when the sun is shining?

I found the summers very short, the winters not quite wintery enough to make their length worthwhile, but the Autumn is pretty nice as it's usually calm with blue skies.

But as someone else said it really depends on where you live - it varies greatly (which is a good thing I suupose!).

I like the brown fields around the Hawkes Bay in Summertime; for some reason that dry, late summer look always makes me feel like I'm on holiday.

uk+kiwi

I agree. They also remind me of Italian (Tuscan) landscapes - interesting given your current location.

sniffydog

We're thinking of Hawkes Bay as a destination for emigration - is it really a "meditteranean climate"?!!!

mazi

As mediterranean as you'll get in NZ! Yes, it definitely has that feel to it.

mazi

yes there's a real grapey/olivey/basily feel about the place.

And Napier in all its Art Deco glory is a fabulous colour in the sunlight.

Jack The Lad

Do you think so, eh?

sniffydog

do you know different then?!! PLease tell..

SecretSquirrel

in my experience the weather in nz can be summed up in one word.

windy.

Jack The Lad

So is our bedroom. My wife wont get homesick then

SecretSquirrel

you can add to that effect by living in rotorua!

Jude J

I moved from the South Coast of UK to North Auckland. Even this winter just gone was nothing compared to Uk winters. I love the rain, and boy can it rain here! No frost where we are, dont think it gets below about 5 degrees. In July this year i was sitting in the garden in the sun with a t-shirt on. Not too keen on really hot weather, by the end of march I am desperate for winter!

Batty

You know that really cold damp sludgy kind of winter's day in the UK? Well...you don't get those here in Auckland. And, you know those days when you start to shiver as soon as you step outside the door, no matter how well you're wrapped up? Well...you don't get those either. And, you know......

It's never too hot for me so I do feel the cold in winter and always have a coat with me - even if I'm carrying it rather than wearing it. I don't know how I'd cope with an Irish (or English) winter again now - I always hated it, it'd be unbearable now.

Maz

Anyone in Wellington, how do the winters compare to those in Auckland? Thanks!

cottageinthesky

Same sort of thing - that grey drizzly weather rarely happens here , certainly doesn't go on for days/weeks on end - tends to chuck it down with rain, then stop and the sun comes out again - rarely see frost - can't remember the last time I wore any gloves, which were a permanent fixture on my hands in the Uk - spider plants, so lovingly tended as indoor plants in England, grow all year round in the garden - ditto nasturtiums, lobelia, mint, parsley - even this last winter, which has been the coldest and wettest I've known in 10 years still hasn't been anywhere near as cold as back in dear old England!!

Have a feeling that last year, Wellington knocked spots off Auckland for sunshine hours and temperature - I might wait behind a parapet for that one to sink into the Aucklanders!!