Four Seasons

Winter has come early to New Zealand this year delighting skiers and snowboarders, and lifting the spirits of the tourist industry with the promise of a bumper season ahead.

Colourful garden festivals and events throughout New Zealand during 2009.

While most of New Zealand takes a holiday at some time during January, it’s also a great time for tourists to experience the laid-back nature of New Zealand life at its best.

As sunshine hours lengthen and the annual school and work calendar winds down in preparation for Christmas and the long summer holidays, New Zealand swings into outdoor mode with feasts, festivals and fun on the programme.

The Southern Alps glisten with fresh spring snow, and the buzz of enthusiastic spring skiers is unmistakable. Bigger than the Swiss, French and Austrian Alps combined, the Southern Alps stretch 2000 metres high across the South Island.

The start of spring coincides with the beginning of the whitebait season on the West Coast. South Islanders and tourists flock to river entrances with nets to collect the translucent, thin inch-long whitebait.

In spring, New Zealand's vast mountains are usually more accessible for hikers, with receding snow, longer daylight hours, and warmer conditions.

Christmas and New Year celebrations in New Zealand offer a summer twist on the traditional festive season.

Spring in New Zealand is a season of colour, new life, new harvests of food and wine and exciting arts and cultural events.

Taranaki is renowned for its fabulous gardens of roses, rhododendrons, fuchsias and native plants.