When the weather in Canada is frightful, the sun in Tauranga is just delightful, Canadian snowbird Reg Stark said.

A snowbird is a Canadian who flies south for the winter, usually somewhere like Florida or other warmer parts of the world.

“The exchange rate is great for us in New Zealand, so we take advantage of it,” Stark said.

Stark and his family first ventured from their Okanagan, British Columbia city, Kelowna, to New Zealand in 2010 and decided to keep coming back.

“There are about 70 of us [Canadian snowbirds] here,” he said.

Stark has been trading in the snow for the sandy beach of Pāpāmoa since 2010.

The first time Stark and his family toured for six weeks. They returned the following year and called Mount Maunganui their home away from home for seven years.

“We now stay in Pāpāmoa,” he said.

He said the snowbirds coming to New Zealand is a win for both Canuck and Kiwi.

“Kiwis like to go away over Christmas, and we can rent out their houses, so it’s a win-win.”

He said that a trade war ignited by President Donald Trump could cause more Canadians to look elsewhere for holidays and that New Zealand might be the place to go.

“It is better than the United States,” he said.

Kelowna is renowned for its wine, grows a variety of stone fruit, and can get incredibly warm in the summer, Stark said.

In celebration of their roots, Stark and more than 50 other Canadians joined the Waitangi Day celebrations, hosting a “Catangi Day”.

The winters in Kelowna can be brutal, plunging to -12C with the coldest recorded temperature -36.2C.

“Three months is a good time for us because it’s starting to warm up in April.”

City Hall in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada.

In summer, the mercury in Kelowna can creep to over 30C, with the hottest temperature recorded at 45.7C in 2021.

New Zealand can feel eerily similar to British Columbia, especially in the South Island, as the lakes and mountain ranges can have an uncanny resemblance to the interior of the province, Stark said.

A cultural exchange of sorts might be in order, Stark suggested, as often Kiwis who venture to Canada only see the Canadian Rockies and then venture up to Alaska.

Stark and his family stay about three months in New Zealand, the maximum allowed under the New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority.

“It is 13 hours from Vancouver to Auckland, and then we have a short flight to Kelowna.”