[nickydwuk]

We are seriously considering Dunedin as our future home. However OH has concerns about the weather. We know that it is colder than the north island but how much colder? How long does the winter last? What is the summer like? OH loves his garden and we are hoping to get a property with a reasonable sized section so he can 'lose' himself but he has said there is no point if the weather is too cold to do anything in - even in the summer. Is there much sun during the summer? Do you often get stuck indoors because of the snow during winter?

I think he has almost convinced himself to go but is trying to put obstacles in the way so he does not have to make the final decision!!! :roll

[Brad77]

http://www.metservice.com/default/index.php?alias=dataclimatesummaries192937

if, like many Brits, you are moving to NZ for sun and warmth then Dunedin is probably one of the last places to consider. If you want sun go to Nelson or Bay of Plenty (Tauranga) OR warmth, Northland. Or Australia.

[Caniwi]

Put it this way.....the Scots settled Dunedin.....I'm sure you know what THEIR weather is like.......????

[migratory birds]

On gardens...we're considering Dunedin as well.

In the Upper Midwest/US where I garden now, I grow apples, plums, peaches (though a cold snap eventually takes the peaches), cherries, blueberries, raspberries, serviceberries. Many perennial flowers.

Last frost here is May 15 (equiv of Nov 15 in NZ) and killing frost late Oct (equiv of late April in NZ). We can begin putting in hardier veggies (spinach, kale, collards, brocoli, cauliflower, peas, onions) in early spring as soon as the ground/mud can be worked (mid-March here, mid-Sept NZ) and expect to lose the more tender veggies and herbs (basil, tomatoes) in late Oct (late April there). Irrigation is necessary throughout the growing season here.

Similar growing season there?

[pinkpiggy]

We considered Dunedin, briefly. We had a look at temperatures etc. and if memory serves me correctly, while it didn't get very cold it didn't seem to get very warm either.

As Caniwi has said, Dunedin is where the Scottish settled. In fact Dunedin is the scottish word for Edinburgh!

You might find this website useful. http://www.orc.govt.nz/portal.asp?categoryid=707

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[aliz76]

We just moved to Dunedin last weekend, and we went through exactly the same doubts with regards to weather, location etc. I think Dunedin gets a bad press because the rest of NZ generally has such good weather and is so amazing, but it compares very well to the UK.

We've just moved from Liverpool, and considering it's currently winter here, this week has been great. We've had some beautiful sunny days and only 2 afternoons have been a bit drizzly (although I do know they've had a colder than usual winter earlier this year).

I think the weeather can change pretty quickly, but on the plus side Dunedin is on the east coast and so stays fairly dry because most of the rain falls on the west coast and over central Otago when it hits the mountains. Also, it's so beautiful around here and the house prices are very favourable too. We went to a farmer's market by the train station yesterday morning which was great and our neighbours took us to the rugby at Karisbrook last night, so I'm starting to feel at home already!

Well, I'd better go as I need to unpack my work clothes and get them ironed before I start my new job tomorrow. I haven't been on this website for about 6 months (we travelled around South America on our way to NZ) but it's great to be back online and find out what's happening with everyone... cheerio for now, Ali

[Nick88]

If in doubt rent a house in Dunedin for the winter and see. If you don't enjoy it move further north.

Personally I hate being cold, it takes all of the fun out of gardening. That's why I live in Northland. I have things like philodendron, ginger and orchids in the garden, and we can eat avocadoes and mandarins straight off the trees....... in July. Gardening in a warm climate is lovely.

[ruthyroo]

We've been in Dunners for 18 months now. There are lots of good points to being here - but the temperature isn't one of them! Summer is fairly short compared to the NI, and while we did have a lot of lovely warm / hot days, but as soon as the sun goes down (and it can disppear fairly rapidly due to all the hills) it gets cold quite quickly. So not much sitting outside in the evening. Winter last year was okay, very cold, lots of clear sunny days with cold cold nights. This year has been less so - more cloudy / rainy / grey / dreich / very Scottish days.

With Dunedin, and many other cities, you have to bear in mind the local geography, prevailing wind directions and angle of your house to the sunshine through the year. We live on the Peninsula, which is great - but we are exposed to the full brunt of the south-westerlies brrrrrrrr! Mosgiel, and other places on the Taieri plains, are often several degrees warmer that Dunedin City itself - I suspect that gardening is more successful there too. The house gets good sunshine during the day, but the total lack of insulation means it loses all that precious heat about 10 minutes after the sun goes down.

Re. gardening - all I can say is that we had a lemon tree (or the G&T tree as we called it) in Rotorua... none of my colleagues has had any success growing lemons in Dunedin.

Re. the Scots settling Dunedin - it's worth noting that not only were the first settlers Scottish - but they were Scottish Presbyterians - Wee Frees - and a pretty tough bunch, for whom comfort and luxury were not priorities!

[aggelon]

I find that Dunedin often has it's very own cloud hanging over it while just a few km out (on the Taieri for example) there are clear blue sunny skies.
Admittedly I'm up in Central so we have more clear days then Dunedin, which means more frosts in winter (but with beautiful clear blue skies later in the day) and much hotter days in the summer. Up to 10 degrees warmer than Dunedin and usually the hottest part of NZ in Summer

[aggelon]

Dunedin yesterday was the warmest of the 5 main centres 0n 21 degrees just 1 degree less than Alexandra