That Summer Feeling
One thing that surprised me as a South African migrant was just how summery New Zealand is so much of the time.
Maybe it’s because I’m from Johannesburg that being surrounded by beaches means “holiday” to me, but I’ve travelled quite a bit and really think that Auckland in particular has one of the nicest, most ‘summery’ summers ever. And it seems to last forever too…
A few short weeks ago I started writing a blog post about this in the midst of a scorcher of a summer – a post sparked by having to slow my car down to allow what can only be described as a shimmy across the street to the big blue ocean by a gaggle of ladies (all over 70), their polka dot towels flung over their bikinied bodies. Even today – and it’s definitely cooling down – on my way to work I saw two people frolicking in what must have been a pretty cold ocean in the mist at 7am. We South Africans don’t believe this kind of life will be the case when moving to New Zealand! Not weather wise necessarily but this perpetual summer feeling.
It’s so beautiful and temperate so much of the time and while it does rain, it’s often just a mild spurt a few times a minute. For the remaining seconds it’s really quite pleasant and often quite bright and sunny...(sometimes experiences committment issues, the weather does).
Having looked up the average rainfall for both cities, it seems it rains twice as much in volume in Auckland as in Johannesburg. Sometimes it rains hard for days at a time…but it doesn’t happen too often. (And it’s quite nice when it does, isn’t it?)
Before moving to New Zealand I was sure the weather would be different and particularly rainy and a lot of potential migrants do too - while it’s different (lightning storms are pretty scarce, I miss those on the Highveld) it’s never felt “rainy”. It still looks and feels like I’m on holiday outside so much of the time - 6 years and counting.
Last weekend my husband was lucky enough to be invited aboard a 50ft yacht for a sail through the Hauraki gulf – the weather was perfect although autumn has definitely started taper off. That summer feeling really never does! (Have a look at the shots below he got from the ferry on his commute to work in the city from Gulf Harbour - these photos are a day apart although a very extreme example!)
This week at Little Manly beach on the Hibiscus Coast (close to where two of us from IMMagine live and about 45 minutes from the city) locals were treated to a visit by a pod of dolphins. Not just once but every single day for almost a week. On one occasion when the dolphins where particularly close to shore, they stayed for nearly 7 hours just playing with the people who’d gathered in the water to be with them.
It even got a mention on the news – you can read about it and see some pictures here. I saw this spectacle right in my back yard and thought…you can’t beat this. It’s a good place to live and honestly, the weather’s great. Mostly.
- Danni Balsaras, Auckland Office
Share this post
