Wellington, Manawatu and Hawkes Bay

The Wellington Region includes Wellington City and the south-western section of the North Island. The Manawatu area is based around State Highway 1 where it descends from the volcanic plateau to Wellington, west of the main ranges. The Hawke's Bay region encompasses the area around Hawke's Bay on the east coast of the North Island.

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and has a population of around 346,000. It is set on the shores of a beautiful harbour and is surrounded by superb wooded hills. Wellington has over 400 cafés and restaurants, naming it the café capital of New Zealand. It is here you will find some of the best eating places and shopping in New Zealand.

The Manawatu region is mainly countryside that is made up of broad coastal plains. Here lies the charming university-city of Palmerston North. There are many beautiful country gardens to be explored as well as the host of magnificent historic buildings in the central business district, many dating back as far as the 1920’s.

Hawke’s Bay is a sunny, coastal area that is famous for its long established vineyards and the amount of Art Deco buildings. Napier, is the main city of the region and it has, in-fact one of the largest concentrations of Art Deco buildings in the world. While here you must visit the Cape Kidnappers Gannet Sanctuary, which is the largest mainland colony in the world.

The South Island is cooler than the North Island by a few degrees. Winter in New Zealand is from June to August and summer is from December to February. There are regional variations: It is quite warm and pleasant up in the Northland region at any time of the year. Higher altitudes are always considerably cooler, and it is usually windy in Wellington, which catches the winds whistling through the Cook Straight.

Snow is mostly seen in the mountains, although there can be snowfalls, even at sea level, In the South Island, particularly in the extreme south. Some of the plains and higher plateaus also receive snow in winter, notably the Canterbury plains and the high plateau around the Tongariro National Park, especially on the east side. Snow is seldom seen near sea level on the West Coast of either and not at all in the far north.

An important thing you must know about the New Zealand climate is that it is a maritime climate, as opposed to the continental climate typical of larger land masses. This means the weather can change with amazing rapidity.