aneckc

Because of my wife's work schedule we can only go to Australia and New Zealand in June or July (their winter months I believe). What are the temperatures then? Is it very rainy? Did you wish you had gone some other time? Can anyone who has visited Australia and New Zealand during the winter comment? Thanks

JohnInMiami

aneckc, Australia is a vast country - just a tad bit smaller than the US in size.

What parts of the country are you planning on visiting? June & July are indeed winter in Oz. Generally speaking, the farther north you are, the warmer you'll be. You can go snow skiing in New South Wales & Victoria (southeastern states) or enjoy a nice beach day in the far north.

We were in the Brisbane area last July/August and had a wonderful time. One of the places we stayed was about 30 miles/45km inland and some nights it got down to -5C/25F. Daytime was pleasant, t-shirt & jeans weather with a light jacket for when the sun went down.

I haven't been to NZ but would be keen to know myself what other posters think of visiting there in the southern winter.

ElendilPickle

We were in New Zealand in the fall and really enjoyed ourselves. If you dress appropriately and keep in mind that it may be too cold to do some outdoor activities, you should be fine.

Lee Ann

Alan

It won't be very rainy in most of Australia, aneckc; in fact, in Sydney, at least, you get a lot of clear skies and sunny weather in June and July. When it DOES rain, however, it can be quite dismal, as it tends to drizzle for three days, and even though there's not a vast amount of rain, it doesn't dry up too quickly.But that's the exception, not the rule.

Also, if you're planning a trip to the Barrier Reef you will find the middle of the year much drier than around Christmas... my understanding is that this is a very pleasant time to go to that part of Australia.

You will find the main problem in Sydney is that it feels warm while the sun is shining straight on you, but when you are in the shade, suddenly you wonder where the warmth all went. And, of course, the days are much shorter in June and July... it will be dark by 5:30. What you will experience at that time won't be the sun-and-surf of the posters, but in a city like Sydney there will always be plenty to do, no matter what the temperature.I'm sure you will have a rewarding time.

I don't, however, think I'd be rash enough to recommend Melbourne at that time of year -- perhaps the Melbournites will be able to set me straight, however (I confess, I've never been lucky with the weather in Melbourne -- I'm beginning to think it's something personal!)

lizF

generally you can expect dry weather from about Gold Coast north to the tip of Cape York, also Northern Territory. The southern areas of Australia will be cool - a bit like LA in winter. Melbourne will be like San Fran in winter. NZ will be cooler with the South Island quite cold and a lot of snow on the mountains. So you can ski in NZ and sun bake on the GBR if thats what you would like to do. Neither country is too cold to see and enjoy.

Brisbanite

Hi Aneck,

There is plenty to do in Australia during the winter.

The following is the web site for the Australian Bureau of Meteorolgy. They have a myriad of data on just about every city/town/shire in Australia. I've pointed you specifically to the seasonal averages page. Enjoy...

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/

Scroll down to the section entitled 'Climate graphs and tables'. Select your state and you will be presented with a large list of locations including the capital city of the state in question.

claret

Hi aneckc,

You didn't mention what you wanted to see in Australia but winter would have to be the best time to see the outback i.e. Uluru etc and also Far North Queensland etc.

As far as the rest of the country - well the temperature will vary for sure but pack a couple of sets of thermals and you set. The beauty of winter travel is less crowds - less queues etc - i love to travel in winter - hope you do!

alice13

Hi aneckc - lots of excellent info already come your way. I guess I just want to second Claret - the winter is the best time to visit the centre of Australia which is seriously hot in the summer!

A wee caution about FNQ - I visited most recently early July last year. It was colder than expected but everyone said it was an unusual cold snap - and you can't plan for that. And it's not REALLY COLD. However my big disappointment was how windy it was. That doesn't make for good snorkelling, and is apparently normal for the time of year.

If you are a diver of course it won't matter so much, but if your heart is set on an idyllic trip out to the GBR for a snorkel - then go a few weeks earlier.

NZ is gorgeous at any time if you can cope with the vagaries of the weather - but most folk go in the winter to ski.

Have a fantastic time.

tropo

aneckc - not sure of where you come from? but wintertime in Australia, is a lot milder than most northern hemisphere countries. Just watched the tv, to see the snow falls in Europe & Britain (springtime).
Other Oz members have given you honest & excellent advise, regarding inland Australia, and north Queensland. I live about 3.5 hrs drive north of Brisbane, and last winter I wore short & t-shirt during the day, and most days swam in the Bay. I notice others telling you of the major attractions, but have thought visiting Fraser Island (just off the coast from where I live - Getaway TV team were there 2 days ago, doing a shoot on the island)
Visiting this beautiful World Heritage island, is enjoyable both summer & winter. Our average winter day temperature is around 23-25 degrees. We sometimes start off with a cool morning, then warms up quickly.
Regards.

Neil_Oz

Might be stating the bleeding obvious, as Basil Fawlty used to say, but the temps being quoted here are celsius.

mjs

We have visited both countries in June/July and enjoyed ourselves very much. Would do it again.
My thoughts on New Zealand in their winter is that it is not a bad time to go as the north island seems to have what I would consider fall like weather. The south island is definitely in winter with snow in the higher elevations but it really is not very severe. Appears to have less rain on the west part of the south island which is a real plus. Few tourists during their winter so you can get good deals on hotels and airfare. If I had a choice, all other things being equal I would probably go back to NZ in their late spring or early fall but the winter is not a bad time to travel in these areas.
Australia is a very different animal in that the country is huge and traveling to OZ is like visiting the US. You will need to fly to get to many of the interesting parts of Australia unless you have alot of time available. We found Sydney weather to be quite pleasant in July with what I would consider fall like weather with not much rain. North Queenlands with Port Douglas etc was quite warm/hot. I am not sure I would want to visit these parts in the OZ summer. July is a good time to visit Ayres Rock and the outback. Have been steered away from Melbourne and Tasmania during the winter but it seems that much of Australia is quite pleasant during their winter.
Lastly would recommend doing these two countries separately unless you have alot of time. Easy to do three weeks or more in each country and still miss alot. May also help your travel plans if you do not visit during the school hols.

Brisbanite

Here is a little app you can use to convert from F to C and vice versa. I wasn't aware anyone still used F...

Take the code below and paste it into a text file (notepad). Save it, close it and then double click on the file to run it.


dim C
Dim F

if msgbox("Are you converting from farenheit to Celsius?",vbyesno) = vbyes Then
C = inputbox("Enter Degrees Celsius&quot
F = (C*9/5) + 32
msgbox C & " degrees celsius = " & F & " degrees farenheit"
Else
F = inputbox("Enter Degrees Farenheit&quot
C = (F-32)*5/9
msgbox F & " degrees farenheit = " & C & " degrees celsius"
End if

Brisbanite

Forgot to mention you'll have to name the file with a file extention of .vbs

ie. TempConvert.vbs

enjoy.

Neil_Oz

Alternatively I have a nice little temperature conversion spreadsheet that I'm happy to forward to anyone who wants it.

I wish the United States would bit the bullet and go metric! (Last time I said that I was chided by a guy who accused me of wanting to see a bland, one-size-fits-all world. Oh, well.)

Miss_Maple

In 2003 my daughter and I went to Australia in the middle of July. First stop was in Sydney -- sunny but cool -- however we still managed to get to Manly beach and enjoyed the ferry ride, walk and Aussies lapping up the sunshine. A lightweight raincoat that you can peel off was all that was needed -- however, it cools off at nigh, especially by the water and remember it gets dark earlier at that time of year.

Next stop was in Cains -- perfect weather in the 75-80 degrees and you will feel the sweetness of the vegatation as soon as you step off of the plane. It is an great time to visit the Great Barrier Reef -- the deadly man-of-war not in season. In fact at our hotel, had many Melbournites flocking north for the sunshine. Very relaxed here.

Our last stop was in Melbourne -- and it was the coolest here -- 60 degrees -- you will need a lightweight coat but it was not rainy. The shopping is fantastic there, way better than Sydney-Cairns -- we wished we could have bought more -- clothing -- jewelery etc. I am a gardener and we did several short visits to the Botanical Gardens. They had just planted the grounds with spring pansies and the grass was a bright cheerful green. Some flowers were in bloom -- though not at it's prime. The trip to see the fairy penquins was a disappointment -- not that many come ashore at that time of year. Don't miss the Great Ocean Road -- we took a private tour on our last day -- and it is a must do -- no matter what the weather -- ours was a beautiful sunny day.

I did not go to NZ because of time and $ constraints. Would love to go back to Australia -- a great variety of things to do and the folks are so friendly. Good luck and by all means GO!

Brisbanite

> wish the United States would bit the bullet and go metric! (Last time I said that I was chided by a guy who accused me of wanting to see a bland, one-size-fits-all world. Oh, well.)

Actually Celsius/Centegrade scales are not metric at all. The official metric temperature scale is the Kelvin scale.