Since I moved to New Zealand, I jumped into a new relationship. Not just with the boyfriend, but also with the weather forecast. My high school geography teacher would be proud to see how often I check weather maps inundated with high pressure and rain information.

In New Zealand you can’t really plan a weekend away in advance, or lets say: you shouldn’t. The Kiwi weather is too unpredictable. A quick slice of advice: if you’re visiting New Zealand, don’t come with a pre-planned itinerary. The weather might not cooperate and you’ll see New Zealand in the rain. My friends and I often have two plans ready for the weekend and decide on Thursday which one it is going to be.

Choose the good coast

I live on the South Island (the best island 😉 ) and when the weather is bad at the East Coast, it’s usually good at the West Coast (and vice versa). The Alps in the middle of the country block the weather fronts from the other side, meaning there is always one part of the country where the weather is nice.

A few weekends ago it was a stormy weekend in Christchurch. Some people would think: ‘oh that’s charming to have a nice weekend inside at the fire’. I admit I can appreciate weekends like that too, but that particular weekend we were so excited to get out. In the end we only saw one option: leaving the rainy East coast behind and go West!

It was a bit of driving in a short time span, 3,5h to be specific, but it was a good call to go from East to West Coast. You won’t believe what we saw!