June, July and August are our winter months here in New Zealand with an average temperature of 10-15 degrees Celsius. In the North temperatures are slightly mild with sunny days in the three months in winter. In the South Island, frost and snowfall is very common bringing in the cold temperatures. New Zealand is a travel destination all year along and in winter the South Island ski season is world class with tourists arriving from all over the world.
Obviously couple of layers of clothing shall keep you warm throughout winter but do carry an extra when you head to the mountains and ski fields. Fleece clothing on a calm and dry day would best suit you with water or windproof covering on top so that you don’t get it wet and get even colder. Fleece material being breathable will not stop the wind flowing in or the insulating if it does rain. Warmers are also very helpful in keeping warm over the winter for your upper body and lower body.
Let’s list a few other tips for keeping warm this winter
1. Warm yourself first (body heat)
Before you go turn on your heaters, heat-pumps, thermostats etc, dress yourself in multiple layers. It is time to take out your warmers clothes for the extra layers you will need to cover yourself throughout this winter. Let’s start with wearing a warm hat to keep your head and brain warm before the cold hits the head and you eventually turn sick. Take out your warm winter gloves for your hands to keep warm. Wear a warm scarf around your neck to keep that cold away. Let us not forget about our feet as they are very important part of your body to keep warm in winter, so put on your warm woolen socks. A nice big puffy Kathmandu jacket will always be a good investment. It is light and very warm and it traps the heat hence keeping your body warm.
2. Let in the sunshine
Sunny days in winter are very rare, so every time it is sunny try making the most of it and whether it is inside the house or outside. It’s always good to soak up the heat transferred by a natural source and make good use of it. While you are at home do ensure to open your curtains in the morning to let the sun shine through the windows and supply the natural heat to house. At night times try covering all the gaps to make sure the heat does not escape and this way it could work out very cheap and efficient, instead of having expensive heat pumps installed.
3. Hot drinks (Healthy)
Yes, winter brings in all the cravings for a nice cup of hot chocolate while you are snuggled in bed. Let’s not get carried away and chug down unhealthy drinks that will not have a good effect on your health and especially won’t be looking any good in summer either. So, replace such unhealthy hot drinks during winter with the healthy ones such as the hot lemon water to start of your day right. Hot lemon water has many good health effects on your health. Try replacing a normal cup of tea with ginger tea, which has tons of healing properties.
4. Heat pumps
Heat pumps are becoming more and more common in New Zealand as the usage increases to over 25% of New Zealanders having heat pumps. It can be expensive to begin with, but once you have a heat pump installed you could save in the future as it is very cost effective in the long run. Heat pumps are a good alternative to the expensive electric heating systems. Heat pumps do not generate heat, because they move the heat from outside and to the inside of the house keeping your warm over winter and in summer it moves cold air inside and becomes efficient as you can use it in summer or winter.
Happy moving everyone and stay warm ?