Someone asked me to report back on the water temperature in Wellington given that it is summer there so I thought I'd post overall comments on the weather - perhaps others who have lived there longer can add in their thoughts.

I'll start by saying that it all depends on your perspective. I currently live in the desert so it is about 60-70 degress in the winter and about 110 for at least 3 solid months in the summer. The day I left here, it was 70 and when I arrived in Wellington (my winter, their summer) it was 70. It will be pretty tough for me to adjust in the winter, I think! (Must get newer house with central heating and double glazing!) But I did notice that the sun is much more intense than in most parts of the US (it's pretty intense here in Tucson, too; many cases of skin cancer) - that can make it seem hotter than the actual 70 degrees.

The wind really is fierce almost all the time. We had a few days of relative calm but the weekend was quite wet and windy - all you locals, how common is that? I get the impression it is pretty normal/standard. When that happens, the temps seem to drop a good 15 degrees or more. The funny thing is that the locals do not even seem to notice that it is raining. They just continue on with whatever activity they were doing. Locals are rarely seen with umbrellas even when it is raining!

As for the water temp, (keeping in mind that I think 70 is a nice crisp winter temp), it was cold!! I certainly wouldn't be able to do any more than dip toes in. And, all the locals were wearing bodysuits - didn't see a single person out in the water with just a swimsuit.

I kindof get the impression it is a lot like Seattle...

So, locals, how about it? Is the wind/rain pretty common (2/week? 4/week?). What are winters like? Any snow? Or just lots of rain?

RR