Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year but it is not the middle of winter. The mountains have not yet had enough snow for skiing. Only 3 ski areas are open at the moment: Mt Hutt which is one and a half hours from Christchurch, Cardrona in Wanaka, and Coronet Peak in Queenstown. The Remarkables ski field in Queenstown is planning to open tomorrow and snow machines are busy making enough snow for skiers. The Queenstown Winter Festival opened today and runs until Sunday 29th June.
Listen to June 22nd 2011 to find out more about the shortest day. Follow the links for 2009 and 2008 to learn more about the shortest day in NZ and Matariki.
To find out more about the Queenstown Winter Festival, listen to June 22nd 2012. This year, however, the festival finishes the week before the school holidays.