Comparison Between Climate on East and West Coasts.

The climate on the west coast of both Islands is more equable than on the east, the difference between the average summer and winter temperature being nearly four degrees greater on the south-east portion of the North Island, and seven degrees on that of the South Island, than on the north-west, on which the equatorial winds impinge. This constant wind is the most important feature in the meteorology of New Zealand, and is rendered more striking by comparing the annual fluctuation of temperature on the opposite seaboards of the South Island, which have a greater range of temperature by eighteen degrees at Christchurch on the east than at Hokitika on the west.