[victoria24]

looking to recce it right up over the crimbo period. looking at the weather stats it can vary wildly. for those of you there last xmas, what was the weather like in general?
also.. what is the xmas atmos like over there? do NZ ers celebrate like we do here?
cheers neil

[NikT]

We were here during the last Silly Season.:exit
From what I can remember the weather here in Napier was hot, with just a few cold nights.

It was fun having bbq for xmas dinner. The Silly Season is celebrated much the same way ie. beer, beer, beer, food, beer, beer.
You get the picture.;)

Nick.:cheers

[mgbridges]

Christmas comes at the end of the academic school year and at the beginning of the long summer holidays so everything tends to shut down in terms of recruitment if you were planning on looking for a job. A lot of people either dash straight off to family, the seaside bach, on holidays as soon as school breaks up or go immediately after Christmas/New Year.

In terms of the weather on Christmas day 2007 we had brunch out on our deck in lovely sunshine but ended up inside for our big Christmas meal later in the day as it had turned cooler and a bit rainy. However all in all last summer was (according to the locals) one of the best for years and I have to say we certainly got a lot of gloriously sunny/hot days here in Auckland.

HTH
Anneliese

[Incognito]

Christmas day 2006 in Wellington was nice...............however New Years eve was freezing!!!!

[Familyofmonkeys]

we certainly got a lot of gloriously sunny/hot days here in Auckland.


Weather was lovely....although a bit too humid for me personally. We did a 2 week road trip over xmas and new year driving from Auckland down to christchurch and back. During that time there was no more than a light sprinkling or rain and the weather was consistenly warm. Even on the coolers days it was still warmer and drier compared to cool UK summer day.

We found xmas was more low-key compared to UK, and a lot of that seemed to be because so many people head off on their summer holidays shortly afterwards. Also there are a lot more outdoor things to do that time of year.....and not the sort of activities we would traditionally associate with xmas or winter in UK as we weren't cooped up indoors.

[cappuccino]

looking to recce it right up over the crimbo period. looking at the weather stats it can vary wildly. for those of you there last xmas, what was the weather like in general?
also.. what is the xmas atmos like over there? do NZ ers celebrate like we do here?
cheers neil

Just a point to consider but if you want to get job interviews whilst you are here, that is probably the worst time of the year. Most companies close down till aound the second week in January. Also the schools will be closed (if you have kids to consider).

If you come in February,
a) the weather will be better
b) most work places will be back to normal so its a good time to sort out interviews etc
c) schools will have resumed
d) the flights are cheaper!

[Tia Maria]

Just to echo what Cappuccino said, things close down big time, over this period, and don't start up properly again till first to second week of Feb.

We've always been warned not to expect lovely weather for Xmas, but its been great the 3 we've been here for. Jan & Feb are definitely the sunniest, driest months of the year but the humidity does get some people down. Not me, I've even been known to stop wearing a jumper! :p

Cheers

Tia

[dharder]

We were here for Christmas in 2005/6, and the weather was awful (with a few days exception). Of course I was told that as soon as I left (early January), it turned really nice.

Last year (2007), I got here the beginning of December to torrential downpours of rain. Christmas day was raining, so not much outdoorsy stuff happening.

It did turn nice though after Christmas, the family went camping for a week over New Year, and it was nice all the time.

So if my experience is anything to go by, it'll be better in January then December.

As far as the job hunt goes, I'll second/third/fourth what the others have said. Forget about it till at least the middle of January, better still, end of January. I expected quiet time over Christmas, but I hadn't anticipated it to be quiet for six weeks!

Good luck,

Daniela

[Moorf]

Before living in NZ I'd have thought "oh yes, nice hot Xmas in NZ, very nice". This will be our 5th Xmas here (:clap) and if someone were to ask whether the weather was better in December or Jan, I'd say Feb.

[nifta]

yeah, feb is probably a safer bet weather wise. in theory there should be nice weather starting around nov/dec, but in recent years while on trips home i've found the christmas weather to be rather random (of course i remember months of hot school summer holidays as a kid, but that may just be selective memory ;) ).

keep an eye on the pohutukawas - my mum always says the earlier and fuller their bloom, the longer and nicer the summer.. but maybe it's just my family that believes that?? :)

oh, and yeah, as others have said NZ literally shuts down over christmas and well into the new year (even a lot of bars/restaurants/etc in wellington are closed for days).

[bob_the_engineer]

Victoria, you live near a large continent in the northern hemisphere. You simply can’t understand the weather in NZ without experiencing it.

For me 40C in Europe is comfortable, 28C in NZ is painful! As a warm weather lover trust me I’m not exaggerating.

The wonderful thing is your out here at a time to see the extremes, go to Napier on Christmas day, I bet you cant stay outside (out of the shade) for an hour and still have skin on your back.

Go to Wellington, and it may well be raining and cool until mid January.

There is a very strange occurrence regarding the weather. Napier folk under estimate the heat there, its frighteningly hot, Wellington folk complain its cold when its really quite warm.

Personally I find Wellington agreeable, Hawkes Bay hot, and Auckland humid (although only been to Auckland in the summer, seen all the seasons in HB and Welly a couple of times over)

I also had this really strange idea that its always cold on the south island, let me just say they make wine there! Yup I’m an idiot but it didn’t sink in till I visited Nelson in the summer!

You can chose between 8 months of sunshine or 8 months of rain, it all depends on which part of NZ you live in, that’s why peoples views are so contradictory.

Oh and its not simply a case of north is hot south is cold here, it all depends on terrain and position, really is ever so strange!

Bob:D

[DMcG]

To add to what everyone else has said - keep in mind that nearly the whole country will be on holiday - so accommodation will be almost impossible to find.

Wait until February when the schools have gone back :D


Dougie

[victoria24]

thanks for all the comments guys and gals. we're rethinking now for feb as we can achieve more from what's been posted and it's closer to our move date of September. thanks once again