June or December for 3 weeks in New Zealand?
 

We were considering taking a 3-week vacation during the Christmas break when it is cold and dreary here in Portland and warm and sunny in New Zealand. Trouble is, the air fare is pretty steep and we are worried about the availability of hotels if we travel by car without reservations. We thought June or July would be less spendy and there would be more hotel availability. We also thought the weather would still be warm on the North Island.

Has anyone experienced the Kiwi winter? Is the South Island too cold or difficult?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thank You,

Bill C.

We have driven through much of NZ during Christmastime, and have been able to easily find places to stay without prior booking. In the most popular places, you might not be able to get the exact room you want, but you will find a place to stay.

You do not want to go to the S. Island during June or July unless you like to ski or enjoy being soaked by rain. You can stay anywhere you want without prior booking, because nobody wants to be there. Northern parts of the N. Island will be cool, but bearable.

Hi! I had no choice but to go to NZ during their winter. I went in July 03. I think I also got really, really lucky with the weather although I froze my tush off. However, you gotta do what you gotta to to go where you want to be! So anyway, I spent much of my time in a ski parka and sweats with long underwear but I was comfortable. I'm also a huge skier and spent a week at a ski camp in Lake Wanaka. That was a real treat for me-an extra week of skiing this year! ALF has been of great help to me but I have to disagree with his saying no one wants to be in the SI during June or July-there were plenty of people around , esp. during the school holidays in July-and it really wasn't that bad! I rarely encountered rain (even at Doubtful Sound it was a gorgeous, sunny day!) and was not hindered by anything except one major snowstorm in the NORTH ISLAND that only delayed me by 2 hours. As I said, I probably got lucky but I was there for a month and that's a long time.

As for accommodation, I am anal and booked everything in advance. I did change things along the way and for the most part there was no major crush for bookings. The only problem is that school holidays are the first 2 weeks of July so it might be crowded in the more popular places. I also did all the activities one would do in the summer and overall had the best trip of my life. Don't let cold weather bother you or keep you from going somewhere wonderful!!!! Just dress warmly and you'll be fine. Cheers and have fun!

I wonder if some of the things you'd want to do on the south island would be less available in winter.

For example, if you are spending three weeks there, you would have plenty of time to do the Milford Trek, which is very special, but I am pretty sure it only runs something like Nov.-March. Similarly, little things like the jetboats and bungee jumps may not be open in winter.

I am sure there are some compensations, like skiing, and that you will have a great trip either way, but depending on your interests (and assuming you won't get back soon) it might make sense to pay the extra to go in Dec.

Kiora,
New Zealand is a wonderful place to visit, I liveed there through all the seasons(North Island)and just moved back to Oregon.
If you enjoy the snow, and winter sports, then South Island in June is great. The winters in kiwi land are Cold! North Island is bearable but it is like Oregon in the winter, lots of rain. December would probably be the best time to enjoy New Zeland and all it has to offer. The weather is great for all kinds of outdoor tramping and water sports, there are great day or overnight tours available also. Rotarua(Mud springs) is a beautiful place to visit this time of year and Wellington!(maybe cause that is where my family is from =))also remember the exchange rate once you get to NZ.
It helps to book your accomidations ahead of time, but if you dont, you should not have a problem finding availability of hotels, you may not get top pick, but hey if your not worried about that youll be fine.
Well good luck with your travels!

1 lOve
Malia

Doh is correct in that some things might be closed but I found most everything to be accessible. The tracks were not available to me but bungee and jet boats definitely were open. The only difficulty I had was with driving in that the highways are narrow and tricky and if it was snowing or bad weather then I wouldn't want to drive. I solved that problem but taking public transport,like the bus and train, which were empty! It's really about if you want to spend your summer in winter weather or not. I didn't care plus I work in a school so I didn't have a choice, but it worked out great.

We went to NZ in 2002 during August and had a wonderful trip. We live in the N.E. U. S. which is much colder than we found N.Z. I think the weather is much like what you would find in the middle atlantic states during the winter (VA and MD)I took a medium weight jacket, heavy pants, mittens, hat, scarf and long underwear and was fine--because I get cold easily. My husband used a light weight jacket and sweater. We spent lots of time outside hiking and the weather was never a deterrant. We stayed in B & Bs which always had good heat and heated beds. The north island was warmer than the south and we had some mild days there where we only needed sweaters. We never had crowds and thoroughly enjoyed the people and places we saw. There were some places like on the Coramandel near Hahei where there were not very many restaurants available, but then our hosts at the B & B made us a wonderful supper. We are planning our return trip for this summer and will spend a month in N.Z. Two weeks on each island. There was so much we didn't have time to do on the last trip. I made advance reservations last time but this trip I will make them as I go. It was no problem finding nice places to stay. The information offices are most helpful in locating lodging and assisting in whatever else you need. Have a great trip.