As we kick off a new season, we wanted to know what our readers were excited about heading into winter – what thoughts keep us warm through the coldest time of year!

It’s fair to say we were surprised by the results – just 8% of voters said they loved skiing and snowboarding most about winter…we were expecting that number to be much higher…

We receive plenty of correspondence about clear, cold days and early frosts – so it was no surprise to see that number up near 30%.

Some of the comments were enlightening too – one guest wrote:
“I absolutely love the feeling of awaking to frosts, or going to bed on a chilly, snowy night and having the fire on. After living in Australia for 4 months during winter, made me miss NZ winters soo much!“

Another guest, Graham, wrote:
“It’s a great time in the garden weather permitting.
The leaves are falling and the fruit trees are resting.
The winter vege’s are all there for the taking. It’ time to plan for spring planting and warmer days.
It’s the best time of the year for me because I can have a rest too.“

Thanks so much to everyone who voted and told us about their winter favourites both on our website and Facebook page – we’ll try and make sure we cover as many of your loves as possible over the coming months!

– Drew Chappell, WeatherWatch.co.nz