As a general rule, you can expect Taranaki to be windy, sunny, rainy, beautiful, dreary, hot, chilly, and windy. Yes, I know I said windy more than once. That is because the wind really can be quite strong here. You will also note that I did not mention snow, ice, hail, sleet, muggy, or freezing. After surviving two winters here, I have experienced below freezing temperatures all of twice. Those two time were two mornings in a row when I was up before daylight to get ready for work, during a "cold snap." Alternatively, summer temperatures have in my experience not gotten over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (about 35 degrees Celsius) but who knows what is in store for this summer.
On the worst days, it is damp, cold and rainy. This can be expected during the winter. It rains most days during the winter months and you rarely see the sun. Sadly this means you also rarely see the mountain. If you do want to see it, the best time is around dawn, for some reason that seems to be when there is the least amount of cloud cover around the mountain. Spring and fall vary widely as to temperature and the amount of sunshine you see. But when summer comes to Taranaki, it is worth all the windy and rainy and cold damp grumpy days. The sky will be a clear, bright blue. You can see the mountain, often still with bits of snow on the very top (I climbed it mid-summer last year, there was snow in the crater even then). The ocean is several shades of blue and green and the sun is bright and warm. It is true that the sun is stronger here. Fair-skinned folks like me make a habit of putting on sunscreen every day before leaving the house, and keep it around for further application if outside a lot. A day that gets up around 85 degrees will feel as warm as a day up to 100 degrees in the Midwest, BUT no humidity!! Ok that's stretching it a bit. There is humidity but somehow it is not the muggy oppressive heat that I grew up with. The hardest part of summer here is having to go to work. We are lucky to have a big window in our office where we can see outside. It is not uncommon to see all of us giving the outdoors longing looks most of the day. The community is quite active and there is a plethora of summer outdoor activities to partake in, which makes it easy to get out and enjoy the season.
If you are planning to visit NZ during the summer, you can expect the opportunity try out the beach, surfing, kite-surfing, cricket on the beach, rugby (apparently something you can do all year long, All Blacks beat Australia last night, yay!), soccer, mountain biking, tramping (hiking), mountain and rock climbing, marathons around the mountain (I will be participating in a "round the mountain relay" in the 3 weeks as part of Powerco's team), and many other activities. One activity that I find to be noticeably lacking is baseball/softball. Those of you who know me will acknowledge that I am far from being a star athlete, but I always enjoy a good game. It is just not a kiwi thing though. I have been enthusiastically following the Royals adventure through the playoffs (thanks for the text updates dad!), much to the amusement of my Kiwi friends who fail to completely understand the sport. I have also noticed that beach volleyball is not huge here, but that could be because I have not yet found the right beach for it (again I will point out that I am better sticking to music over sports, so I likely would not play much anyway, it is simply an observation).
If I were to sum up an explanation of Taranaki weather, or really I think New Zealand weather in general, I would say it is milder than that of the Midwest. There are noticeable changes as the seasons come and go, but there are not the temperature and precipitation extremes that Midwesterners experience between summer and winter. I found that in the heart of winter I did miss snow a bit, although I could see the snow-covered mountain from afar which usually worked as a fix, and I will probably get my fill of it while home for Christmas this year. I have found that I do not miss the muggy humid summers, because despite the strength of the sun here, the heat is not so unbearable that you stay inside just to avoid melting. For those of you who are planning your trip here as you read this, I will advise that Taranaki is not the only windy place. Most of the places I have visited claim to be nearly the windiest place in the country.
Hope you have had a fantastic weekend and have a good week coming up.
Here are a couple of pictures just for fun. If you have seen them before, enjoy them again :)
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| In Whakatane, October 2013 |
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| Traveling to the tip of the North Island |
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| Sunset, winter 2013 |
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| Flowers in Picton, March 2014 |
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