Tourists to Aotearoa

 Hi there

I'm always confused when some northern hemisphere tourists are upset by our cold wet windy and, in certain  areas, snow-y weather - 

 "But it's August," I say.  What did they expect?

 " Yes, August is when we always take our holidays. "

 "But August is the dead of winter in New Zealand.  You should have come in February."

 " Huh? "

If I didn't want to be immersed in a snow-y Christmas card scenario I wouldn't visit the Northern Hemisphere in the midst of their winter, so why come to Aotearoa in August? ... unless these tourists want to don mittens and windbreaker jackets, and ski on our mountains (yes, NZ spawns world champion snow-boarders and skiers).

And don't forget that though we're officially in the South Pacific, Aotearoa-New Zealand is just about the closest country to the South Pole (though Argentina will dispute this)...