NZ Nth Island in late June

[GPSGuided]

Thinking about where to go during the Jun/July school holiday period and thought about NZ. Given it's winter, suspect Nth Island could still be in consideration... Any suggestions on suitability and possible walks for that time of the year? Given it'll be with the family, day walks would be of primary interest. Thanks for a few ideas and hopefully not too cold.

[whynotwalk]

Hi GPSG - I've found the DoC website very helpful over the years. You can pick a region and search for walks on this page: http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/

There are some lovely coastal options north of Auckland. We did days walks near Whananaki, but there are hundreds of options. Rangitoto (Island) is a great day trip by boat from Auckland. Further afield I had a memorable forest walk in Whirinaki Forest. And of course there are warm and hot spring options around Rotorua.

So many options! Have fun planning,

cheers

Peter

[GPSGuided]

Thanks WNW! Yes, been checking out DOC's site but was wondering of the weather condition at that time of the year. I know that the cold and wet would be too much down at Sth Island but wondered what's it like up north. Did you do your Nth Island walks in the winter? What's the weather like at that time of the year?

[whynotwalk]

No - only in spring and summer GPSG. The NZ MetService website gives seasonal averages for all areas. Here's an example for Whangarei http://www.metservice.com/towns-cities/whangarei

It looks like the northern parts of the North Island would largely be warmer than (say) Tassie. June maximums for most places look to be in the teens, minimums down to zero. And there would be snow in higher parts (Tongariro etc). I used Mark Pickering's book on NZ Day Walks. Looks like he's done an eBook versions here http://www.bestwalks.kiwi.nz/

Overall if you're prepared for some "bracing" weather, and equipped for rain (it's not green, dairy country for no reason!), I reckon you'd really enjoy it.

cheers

Peter

[GPSGuided]

Looked at another site and suggested 50% of the days with rain. Cold and rain, ummm... Wondering which walks are worthwhile in the winter season? Maybe soaking all day in a Rotorua hot spa is the smarter thing.

[wayno]

depends on your tolerance of cold whre you'd go... fair bit of snow around tongariro and the skifields.. lots of interesting walks in teh northern half of the island, coromandel, bay of islands, auckland west coast...
the DOC website lists all their walks, waitakeres just search and you'll find the tracks on the web.. hillary trail. do bits of that