Site hosted by AA Travel

"And from the fences and the trees the chilling hoar frost hung,
And to the tussocks and the scrub and to men's beards it clung.
The helicopter grounded by the fog close by did stand,
And icicles and ice were all around the frozen land."
From 'Life's a Mixture' by Blue Jeans

Climate

Naseby town is nestled in a shallow valley in the foothills of the Mt Ida Range on the edge of the sun-bleached Maniototo Plain, 2000 ft above sea level. The Hawkden Mountain Range rises to the north-west, and the Kakanui Mountains run to the east. Elsewhere the surrounding country is gently undulating.

Surrounded by a dark-green swathe of Forest, Naseby stands out from the tussock-covered hills to the north and the farmland plains to the south. Managed for its exotic timber - mainly European larches, Douglas firs and pines - it is the highest forest of its kind on the South Island.

Temperatures of up to 30-40°C in summer make the local swimming dam popular with children and families. And winter temperatures as low as -10°C in winter coupled with a good frost will produce ideal curling conditions and on some years enough ground freeze to hold a bonspiel. The nearby ancient gold mining town of Ophir holds the record of the coldest temperature recorded in New Zealand; -21 degrees C in July 1995.

Rainfall is around 600mm per annum. It invariably snows in winter but can occur other months of the year as well. (Last March saw an early snowfall in the town) Frosts, while most severe in winter, can also occur any time of year.

Around 1899 William H. Trimble cycled from Dunedin to Naseby and reported. "This locality - being remarkable for the dryness of its atmosphere - is a resort for people afflicted with diseases of the lungs; and I seem to have heard tell of a hospital for consumptives there, run by a Dunedin doctor; but one hears so many tales when out on a jaunt of this kind, that I really do not know whether there is any foundation for the statement or not. A young lady of my acquaintance, who was reduced almost to a skeleton by influenza, was restored to complete health by a few days' sojourn in the dry climate of Naseby."

< Back