luvwelly

Wellington is very high on the sunshine hours scale for NZ...as a Brit I don't find it cold and you don't need a big winter coat ever..just a warm fleece or rainmacs...however I have noticed the longer I stay here, the more sensitive I am to slight drops in the temperature...and I start to say 'it's cold' but it isn't really....Crapcoffee could do with some Reddybrek (central heating for kids anyone?) before she ventures out I think!

A house without proper heating though is another matter..in NZ it is true what they say about inside often being colder and damper than outside.

Also you need long sleeved T-shirts to protect yourself from the sun's rays rather than to keep warm i.m.v. The sun is much much brighter than in UK.

nero

We have been in shorts and t-shirts since December - we have occasionally worn jeans in the evening. But again it was a beautiful day here, blue skies and I was in the garden in shorts and t-shirt. I have never worn shorts so much and I love it. It certainly is not like the UK (may be we have been lucky) but I am loving it :-)

BEVS

I agree with this post.

Sometimes it is colder inside your home than outside. For our house it does depend on where the sun is . << feeling very druid like smilie... ooohhhmmm>>

You do have to be so very careful of the sun. I used to laze about in the sun easily , without burning, whilst in the UK or holidaying in Europe , the Med or otherwise. Now we stay in the shade for the most part. No ozone = burn.

Rain ! Ah well. I like weather. I don't have a coat but do have a rain mac.
Most coats sweep the ground for me anyways. Doesn't look good with galoshers.

Bo-Jangles

Mmn, weather, such a subjective and emotive subject. All I can say is that this wussy JAFA woke up bloomin' freezing at 5 five o'clock this morning. Too many more mornings like that and I will be giving into the winter duvet, PJs and anything else i can lay my hands on to keep warm.

As for not needing a coat, must be personal choice or why else will people insist on wearing jandals and shorts all through the winter, whilst others are rugged up in heavy coats and hats. I think 10c / 50F is cold enough for most to be requiring more than a t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

Last winter in Auckland there was a period of around six weeks where it rained EVERY single day.

crap coffee

Just got home now. It's 15°C in my room. Not too bad? or is it bad?? and the office was 20°C. I turned the heat on anyway: 4 seasons - thats for SURE

I walked home and didn't feel cold because two layers on the bottom. but if it's just a layer, i'll start shivering especially at nights or without the sun.

my house is FREEZIN' & DAMP! This is the WORST house I've ever lived in my life. I detest cr@p NZ houses with a passion! Today someone (a Kiwi expat in Welly) described to me like this... "NZ houses are DIsgusting". .. I do want to go back to the UK asap..." .....What does that tell you?

What she said to me (Just A Few Words) was uttery unforgettable.... btw She is a staff of VUW . .. I just asked her... "How happy are you with your life in NZ ? after 27 years in England? ...well. surely she didn't sound positive about NZ though ..apart from this... "Its nice to see the sun comes out and shining"... That's about it..

Why I don't move to somewhere nicer & sunnier? It's a GOOD Question - that's everybody asks me.

dunno.

1) The work (The Terrace)/varsity (the rutherford house/old govt building) are closer (don't need to drive) and I HATE moving & Packing WITH a PASSION! (especially without Paul)

2) I DO NOT want to waste my precious time for packing, moving and finding a new place to live.!(not too soon....)

3) I am too damn busy!.

4) I prefer not to move anywhere anymore (have had enough..) if it's possible, even if I will move back to the UK at some stage when I am ready - I'd be happy then

yes, NZ is tad milder than the UK, yes, I admit that. but it's Obviously COLD here in winter too. COLD is COLD with SAVAGE WIND. I'd be telling a lie if I said Wellington is a warm place... truth be told.

In addition, I am a seriously slim girl. - I've got NO FAT at all... absolutely POsitively. am quite bony - it doesn't help.

owen

Well a couple of things for me.

I can count on two hands the times I've worn trousers since beginning of Dec, no I'm not perverted, the other times I'm wearing shorts!!!! In fact prob most of the other times is when i've had to attend a formal do requiring shoes and stuff!!

Yes it rains, but I love the green and the fact we're not drought ridden.

This morning was the first where i thought "Mmmm, maybe a Jumper tomorrow". With the shorts of course!!

Last winter i had the small radiators on for 5 nights only, it got down to +5oC, brrr!! It really pays to rent/buy well built new builds, no excuses, insulations works!! My house too warm to be honest, killer in summer!!

Also I found this interesting http://www.ubasics.com/dighole/. Get your town within the cross hairs in the top map and it shows where you would pop out if you were to dig straight down. You see its a long country, the top of the north island corresponding to Rabat, Morocco and the southern most tip being equivalent of paris in the Bay of Biscay. I love the crater of Rangitoto coming out in my favourite town in southern Spain. So in all if you think of the weather of Auckland as a marine(humidity) based Costa del Sol, you can't go far wrong!!

Abster21

I just did that Dig a whole thing and the result was rather freeky, turns out my village is right next to New Zealand, think its a sign!!!!

MNandMN

Are hotels as cold as the houses? I am asking because my husband is looking at coming over to NZ for work for three months and will be staying in hotels in your winter season. Will he need to bring clothes to keep warm indoors in a hotel?

Keyser Soze

So how is it down in invercargill? Are we talking Penguin chilly or Lizard warm?

Biddy

Quite frankly the weather here is loads better than the UK.
End of story.

NermaltheCute

Invercargill is bright sunny Autumnal type weather at the moment. Not too cold but not shorts weather either.

kiwinow

I'm sure your OH will be perfectly comfortable in the hotel. Hotel rooms generally have some sort of heat pump/aircon with a thermostat and the lounges will be well heated.

The coldness in houses that people talk about is partly a matter of what you are used to. UK houses often have central heating or similar, which is on much of the time in winter. Here in the South a lot of people have woodburners and the houses can be very cosy, but most let them die down at night and don't necessarily use heaters. In NZ there's a bit of a tradition of toughing it out and conserving energy, although I've noticed a big change in this idea in the last 5 years. Older houses don't have great insulation or double glazing, but it's easy enough to install, and new ones will have these things in adequate measure.

In winter we have a woodburner that cranks out the heat and a fan to blow it down the house. We have no heater on at night. We get up and light the gas heater for a few minutes while we get dressed, then light the woodburner 1/4 hour before waking the kids. No worries!

Wooly_Cow

So as a comparison....today is the start of April, or officially 5 weeks into autumn (starts 1st March) and it's a perfect sunny day in much of New Zealand...temps in the low 20's in most places. Cricket test match in Wellington, people topless (only the guys :-( ) and in lying in the sunshine (hopefully covered in sun screen).

...when was the last time there was a test match in the UK in mid/late October?

...of course it was a coldish start to the day (8c) but once that sun gets out........

Wooly_Cow

Don't want to be picky but....there is NOTHING about conserving energy in the construction of Kiwi homes!! The carbon footprint of a Kiwi house looks like a clowns shoe (to borrow of a current advert)

sparkie down under

In the east coast we get long dry summers, like 3 months and not a drop of rain, and sodding cold winters, being next to a huge ocean like the Pacific, and in spring winds that would scare welliwoods