Best time of year to hit AU/NZ?

[jdtantoes]

I have begun to plan our DREAM :Dcruise and I am curious as to the weather down under.

 

What are the best months to cruise? What are the seas like?

 

Thanks!

[bazzaw]

Hi

 

Australia is as large as the US - so obviously weather is different across it, in much the same way that winter around New York is just a little different to that in Honolulu :D

 

Most cruising from Australia is done from the East Coast - with some done from the West Coast and some circumnavigations of the Continent.

 

I think you would get a better answer if you could be a bit more specific about where/when you would like to cruise around Oz.

 

I will start off by quoting my 3 cruising rules for Australia/Nz - based mostly on my time in the Aussie Navy

 

1. Never cruise north of Brisbane in Summer

2 Never cruise south of Brisbane in Winter

3 Never sail westwards across the south of the Continent (at any time) :D

 

Barry

[rugbypopsie]

Don't scare away the tourists Barry LOL. The north of Australia is very pleasant in our regions winter time...it is a tropical region. In the north in our summer there can be cyclones (hurricanes). Our seasons are the opposite of the Northern Hemisphere's..so your summer is our winter. Our spring would be a great time to cruise.

 

If you are nervous regarding sea states you should be aware that the southern latitudes of Australia and across to Tasmania can get rough. The Great Australian Bight, Tasman Sea, Coastal Tasmania and Bass Straight can be very rough...but often are not. It is not something you can totally predict.

 

The south of NZ is colder than the north even in their summer the south can be very cold.

 

There are so many wonderful things to see..perhaps a northern Australia cruise ending in Sydney followed by a flight to NZ and a NZ cruise might do the trick for you. Flights to NZ from Australia are not very expensive.

 

One of my favourite cruises in our region is the Diamond Princess relocation which starts in Singapore and travels through Vietnam, Bali, various Australian ports such as Darwin, Port Douglas, Airlie Beach and Sydney and then usually follows up with a NZ cruise ending in Sydney again. Although it is usually sometime between Nov to Feb which is the cyclone season, most years this is not a problem..I did it this year and we only missed one port.

 

Hope this helps but there are lots of Aussies/Kiwis on here who I am sure will also have information to help.

 

 

 

[silverwillow]

3 Never sail westwards across the south of the Continent (at any time)

 

Please explain?

[bazzaw]

Please explain?

 

Arr - me hearty!! That be's where them "Roaring Forties" do blow!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Forties

 

They blows from the West - and the seas do run with the wind. And iff'un ye sails the wrong way - ye goes right into 'em and ya gets them "Mal de Mers" bad! http://www.seasickness.co.uk/

 

Barry

[kate59]

Tend to agree with Bazza - As long as you are not cruising a wet season in Darwin is something to experience, providing you are staying in a house that is suitable to sit out a cyclone.

 

As far as the southern ocean if you don't get too worried about the rocking or take sea sickness pills it can still be ok.

[oskarNZ]

As far as NZ goes, you are probably best to look around Feb-Early April. December and January are also nice, but being peak holiday season, cruises are likely to be a bit more expensive and crowded.

 

NZ weather is always a bit of a lottery, however I feel like September to November is the hardest to predict. The North Island often gets a lot of rain around that time, and the South Island can still be getting a bit of snow (although more so in the central mountainous regions than the coastal cruise regions).

 

May to August are cold, daylight hours are quite short and your cruising options are severly limited. However, NZ, particularly the lower South Island, has a real beauty during that time. If our winter is the best time for you to travel, consider a driving tour instead, you're unlikely to be disappointed.

 

Lastly, do bare in mind that the NZ summer coincides with cyclone season in the South Pacific. NZ is rarely affected by this, but parts of Northern Australia and the Pacific Islands can be.

 

Hope this helps.

[kazbar]

I think it also depends a lot on what your idea of good weather is. :)

 

There are many parts of Australia that are warmer in Winter than some parts of the US are in Summer.

[silverwillow]

Arr - me hearty!! That be's where them "Roaring Forties" do blow!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roaring_Forties

 

They blows from the West - and the seas do run with the wind. And iff'un ye sails the wrong way - ye goes right into 'em and ya gets them "Mal de Mers" bad! http://www.seasickness.co.uk/

 

Lol, thanks Barry. :)

[AzEileen]

NZ weather is always a bit of a lottery, however I feel like September to November is the hardest to predict. The North Island often gets a lot of rain around that time, and the South Island can still be getting a bit of snow (although more so in the central mountainous regions than the coastal cruise regions).

 

 

We picked late November. That's late spring for NZ I believe, so I'm hoping the weather will be like late spring in some parts of the mid-west US, some nasty days, but overall lovely! I've got my fingers crossed but really, how bad can it be if you're on vacation on a cruise??

[jdtantoes]

Thank you all for the great responses. We are thinking late February/Early March 2013. I've got plenty of time to plan! We have been on some very rough seas before and some nasty weather and we survived just fine. It adds to whole experience, as long as no one gets hurt...Its a crap shoot!!!:D

 

I guess the biggest issue will be the LONG flight, which we hope to break up a little bit. We are about 19 hours from Sydney:eek: .

[oskarNZ]

We picked late November. That's late spring for NZ I believe, so I'm hoping the weather will be like late spring in some parts of the mid-west US, some nasty days, but overall lovely! I've got my fingers crossed but really, how bad can it be if you're on vacation on a cruise??

 

Hi AzEileen,

 

You'll be fine :). One of the advantages of late November is that the warm weather is beginning to settle in, but the busiest holiday season hasn't yet begun. Kiwi kids don't start their Summer Holidays until mid-late December.

 

As for the snow I was refering to, this usually only occurs in cold snaps as late as October.

 

Historically spring does get quite a bit of rain (particularly in the North Island). Unfortunately it's the price we pay for such beautiful green landscapes. :) However, last Oct/Nov was unusually dry and from memory, some areas even suffered from drought. Like I said, it's hard to predict. Either way, I know you'll have a fantastic holiday.

[Sandielle]

Aaah, Barry, you're a clever one! :D :D :D

 

I wouldn't travel north, ro to the islands, from December to April. Hate the heat.

 

Twice, we've found late Feb into Mar an excellent time to visit NZ. Just nice in the North Island and a little cool and windy in the south - much preferable to the humidity in Qld. (I'm a little biased against coastal Qld at the moment - the humidity is killing me :eek:)

 

In seven crossings of the Tasman Sea, I have not found it very rough although of course, it can be. In fact on our recent NZ cruise the ocean was disappointingly flat - I only knew we were on the sea if I watched the rail against the horizon. :cool:

 

Happy cruising!

[whimsy7]

i guess it is a matter of luck really.... we had great weather on our early February 2011 cruise to New Zealand. sunny weather everyday except light drizzle in wellington.

heard that the cruise before us could not get in to Napier because of the rough seas. also read that the cruise after ours could not do the fiordland cruising (which was the best part of the cruise!!) due to the rough seas and strong winds.

forgot to say that we also had calm seas cruising from Sydney to New Zealand and also back to Sydney.