What is the weather like?

There's no straight forward answer to this one – it will depend on what time of year you travel and where you travel to as well as the whims of the weather itself. The New Zealand seasons are exactly opposite to those in the UK so summer officially begins on 21st Dec and ends on 21st March, winter begins on 21st June and ends on 21st September.

The climate is classed as temperate, prone to quick changes because of its maritime influences and being an island – hence the 'four seasons in one day' saying.

In the Far North of the North Island the climate is considered sub-tropical and summer temperatures typically range between 20 to 30 degrees Celsius. The further south you travel, generally speaking, the colder it gets.

The whole country has a fairly high average rainfall and areas such as the west coast of the South Island have particularly high rainfall hence the vast areas of rainforest.