New Zealand Sun

[JTrader]

Hi

I see there's quite a few Kiwi dwelling T2W members now - & no doubt several more who have visited NZ.

I've heard that the sun is really powerful & biting in NZ due to the now improving hole in the ozone layer between Late August to early December.

In the UK there is a similar but I think smaller hole in the ozone layer between late February and early June. At the same time Scandinavia has a bigger ozone hole problem than the UK & Southern Europe, and people can easily get skin damage there also from late Feb - early June.

Victoria & NSW have similar problems I believe.

I read that Melbourne, Sydney & Auckland are among the skin cancer capitals of the world.

I've heard that the NZ sun has a really harsh bite to it in spring & summer, and is worse for sun burn than warmer places such as Gold Coast, Spain, Italy etc. that have warmer summer temperatures - due to the bite that the sun has.

I've heard Caucasian Europeans say that they could enjoy the sunny weather in Spain/Europe, but when they were outdoors in NZ, they were really surprised to be worse affected in a much shorter space of time.

I'd just like feedback on this from multiple sources thats all.

How strong is the NZ sun compared to the UK, France, Spain/Europe?

How big a problem does this pose to everyday outdoor activities (from Auckland in the North, to Invercargill in the South)?

Many thanks.

 

[Joules MM1]

cher, bro, jeez uts hot eh mun

I lived in Kamo, Onerahi, whangarei, tauranga, auckland, north shore........jeez I got around but the only thing I found that was really biting were the dam dobermans........hehe, does get hot but........in melbourne skin cancer is a big concern, for sure.......more so in Tasmania........reports of ozonedepletion causing severe burns and stupid people live there apparently .......not sure if there's a connection......maybe it's because it;s the closest to new zealand.........


btw.......thinking of travelling .......higly recco a train trip round the coast of the south island.......awesome.........just awesome.......

J

 

[Quercus]

Ever heard of that tune......mmmmmm.....can't think of the title, but it mentioned sunscreen a lot!

Q

 

[nine]

How dare you!

Queensland is the skin cancer capital of the world.

UK and France barely have any sun worth describing as such. You are too far north of the equator and the only reason its warm enough to take your furs off is the North Sea current. Without that you'd still need furs in summer.

 

[Joules MM1]

wonder if we could get Ducatti locked up in a tiny cell on Stewart island..........with a straite jacket.........allowed one crayon in his mouth to wite anti-socrates slogans on the paddded walls........hehe........

and something, something about peanuts........HAHA !

wot a womble :cheesy:

 

[JTrader]

Thanks chaps.

Hi Quercus

do you mean the "slip, slap, slop" song?

UK skin cancer rates are forever increasing. Over the last 4 years or so I have always tried to wear F30 when outdoors in the sun from around April - October with an effective pair of sunglasses. You'd be surprised how quickly people can burn here.

Scottish Higlands (clean unpolluted air) can be really bad for sunburn at any time of year, even with some decent cloud cover.

I've heard that NZ is a nightmare for sun burn with limited exposure.

 

[ashwoka]

Is NZ that bad for sunburn as we are looking to move to NZ in the nest couple of years. I live in the UK.
I know of the skin cancer problem in the uk as someone very close to me has type 2 and already has had 2 bits cut out of there back, luckily the back and not the face. Doctor says I will be seeing you again no doubt (Great). I have never been one to sunbathe myself but never put on suncream until a few years ago (I'm 33) while just walking.
What is new zealand like anyway? I have looked at houses on the net and loads of pics and it does look so nice there, well anywhere is better than the Uk and not just the weather.

 

[JTrader]

Yes the sun sure seems not good for the skin in the long run, despite the vitamin D from UV light.

I noticed last 1-2 years that after spending a few days bear chest at the beach, freckles on my shoulders appeared, despite using F30 suncream, freckles develop to do a job (melanolin protects skin from UVB i think). Also have freckles on arms just above elbows that weren't there 5 years ago, from wearing fairly short sleeved t-shirts. I'd rather not have these, and..........

Skiing & water sports is one of the worst things for sun burn, due to the reflection of water/snow.


...........


I posted this link on another thread. At the moment i think it is a newish and still non-mainstream alternative laser/photo dynamic therapy based non-invasive cancer treatment - that doesn't involve drugs etc.
At the moment they only treat skin cancer and breast cancer, and i think cancers that are within 4 inches of the surface of the skin, but not on organs.
I heard about it listening to GCN radio via prisonplanet.com.
Obviously I am no Doctor, so please don't shoot the messenger.
But given that they claim a 100% or near 100% success rate, it could be worth remembering about, if only as a last possible resort, if nothing else, if god forbid, anyone finds themselves or someone they know finds themselves in such a situation.....

www.lasemedinc.com

 

[Joules MM1]

Yes the sun sure seems not good for the skin in the long run, despite the vitamin D from UV light.

I noticed last 1-2 years that after spending a few days bear chest at the beach, freckles on my shoulders appeared, despite using F30 suncream, freckles develop to do a job (melanolin protects skin from UVB i think). Also have freckles on arms just above elbows that weren't there 5 years ago, from wearing fairly short sleeved t-shirts. I'd rather not have these, and..........

your skin naturally changes over time and with constant bomabardment the defences produce the frek n moles etc........your gettin old.........I once had a face with skin as smooth as a babies butt.........people would ask, hey butt-face how come you got such beautiful skin........but now.......ho-hum......... :cheesy:

yep, too much naked glory under the sun is not good but so is deprivation of a natural D stimulant

think I'd be more concerned for the timbre and tone of all the recent posts JT........getting a bit dark

 

[JTrader]

http://www.emigratenz.org/NewZealandSunshine.html
But How Pleasant Is The Sunshine?

In high summer, the sunshine in New Zealand is really strong. You'll burn more easily here in New Zealand than anywhere in the Mediterranean.

For our scientifically minded readers, there are three reasons why the sun in the Southern Hemisphere is so strong.

There is less ozone here to block the UV rays that cause sunburn.

Earth's orbit takes it closer to the sun during the southern summer than during the northern summer.

There is less pollution in the southern-hemisphere to block the UV rays.

The sun's burning strength is measured by the UV index. The highest possible UV index at sea-level is about 20. This can occur at midday in equatorial regions. Any reading higher than 10 is extreme in terms of skin-damage.

The UV Index in the Mediterranean in high-summer reaches 9 or 10.

The people in Florida are fried on a just a few days each summer when the index reaches 12.

In New Zealand the summer index often exceeds 12. In the far North, 14 is reached - risky even for people with naturally brown skin.

Daily predictions of New Zealand's UV levels are available from NIWA. NIWA's site is particularly useful because you can also find out what the sun's strength will be at different times of the day.

Unless you're keen to look like toasted lobster, you need to take precautions. If you arrive in summer, you'll notice that a surprising number of New Zealanders look like they're taking none - most people don't wear hats. Many New Zealanders are very slack about sun precautions so it's not surprising that there are high skin cancer rates here.

In fact, New Zealand has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world with almost 50,000 new cases diagnosed each year!! Thankfully most of these cases are not serious, but the reality is that about 200 New Zealanders die each year of skin cancer.

If you're worried about skin-cancer you can have your skin checked by skin-scans or mole-maps; you will see lots of newspaper-ads in New Zealand for this type of check-up.

The common message is slip, slop, slap and wrap:

Slip on a shirt.

Slop on the sun cream.

Slap on a hat.

Wrap around sunglasses.

And there's a lot of sense in that.

Interesting, yet surprising facts about the NZ sun. These facts sort of put me off considering NZ as my dream destination, despite how beautiful the country is.

 

[adrianallen99]

Interesting, yet surprising facts about the NZ sun. These facts sort of put me off considering NZ as my dream destination, despite how beautiful the country is.

I lived in New Zealand for a few years and on hot days the sun can burn you really quickly. I think on one day it was 25 degrees and there was an 8 minute burn time. My wife, who has never ever got sun burnt put on a low sun factor cream and was badly burnt in about 15-20 mins. I also slap on Sun block, but even with this, if you miss a few spots, like behind you knees you will feel it in the morning when the burnt skin tightens up.

Having said that, just taking precautions are all that is needed, if you cope with the sun and don't mind living close to a major fault line or a few volcanos, I would definately recommend it
If I could afford to go back and live their permanently instead of living here in the UK, then I would at the drop of a hat.

 

[JTrader]

Thanks adrian

I was really surprised when I learnt of how hot the sun is in NZ, as they never seem to mention it on the travel/relocation programs. Still a nice country though, and nicer than the UK.
It must be a nice, peaceful, relaxed, scenic, albeit wet & windy lifestyle up in Orkney.


PS. The reason I started this thread is cos I hope to spend a few quality months down in NZ, at some point in life, thats all.......................background research etc....