Marlborough takes out New Zealand’s sunniest region
Images attached courtesy of NIWA.
NIWA announced today that Marlborough has taken the sunshine crown for 2024, with 2,769 hours of sunshine recorded in Blenheim, ahead of Nelson and Bay of Plenty.
Mayor Nadine Taylor welcomed the news.
“Marlborough is consistently one of the sunniest places in New Zealand and it’s very pleasing to see us back at number one again.”
“It’s wonderful news to receive at the beginning of a new year.”
“My commiserations to Nelson, who came a close second. Mayor Nick Smith and I had a friendly wager of a bottle of wine on the outcome - I look forward to raising a glass with him and celebrating the Top of the South as the sunniest part of New Zealand in 2024.”
“Marlborough is a great place to live, work and visit, with a wonderful climate, great communities and beautiful landscapes.”
Mayor Taylor noted the news comes after the reopening of the storm-damaged Kenepuru Road just before Christmas.
“This is yet more positive news for our visitor sector.”
According to NIWA, Marlborough experienced New Zealand’s highest annual sunshine total during 2024 (2,769 hours recorded at Blenheim), followed by the wider Nelson region (2,760 hours recorded at Richmond), Bay of Plenty (2,734 hours recorded at Tauranga), and Tasman (2,665 hours recorded at Tākaka).
Further information: https://niwa.co.nz/
ENDS
Lisa was born in Auckland at the start of the 1970s, living in a small campsite community on the North Shore called Browns Bay. She spent a significant part of her life with her grandparents, often hanging out at the beaches. Lisa has many happy memories from those days at Browns Bay beach, where fish were plentiful on the point and the ocean was rich in seaweed. She played in the water for hours, going home totally “sun-kissed.” “An adorable time to grow up,” Lisa tells me.
Lisa enjoyed many sports; she was a keen tennis player and netballer, playing in the top teams for her age right up until the family moved to Wellington. Lisa was fifteen years old, which unfortunately marked the end of her sporting career. Local teams were well established in Wellington, and her attention was drawn elsewhere.