Editorial: Time to get the barbies out

Photo / Andrew Warner

Summer is well and truly on the way.

Kiwis across the Bay and around the country are itching to get their barbecues out and to enjoy the extra sunshine hours thanks to daylight savings.

Enjoying the beach and the Bay's great outdoor spaces will be top of the to-do list for many residents and visitors alike.

Aside from having winds of up to 110km/h hitting the Western Bay this week, it does feel like summer is nearly upon us.

Temperatures are already on the rise and Niwa is predicting a warm summer for the Bay.

According to Tourism Bay of Plenty, this summer is set to be one of the best, with up to 40 events planned for the Bay.

From the international cricket at the Bay Oval, to the gruelling Mount CrossFit New Zealand Team Nationals there does seem to be something for everyone.

The Tauranga Arts Festival will be back this Labour Weekend, kick-starting the summer season.

Other events this summer include the Boat Expo, the Port of Tauranga Half Marathon, V8 Jetsprints, Generation Homes Women's Triathlon and the Ocean Swim Series.

In addition, the lineup for the Winery Tour was announced on Monday and the Tauranga event is moving to Mills Reef Winery rather than the Wharepai Domain.

The move to the winery does make sense, as the Tauranga event was the only centre where the Winery Tour was not held in a winery.

Tourism Bay of Plenty general manager Rhys Arrowsmith said the coming summer events calendar was going to be one of the best the Bay had seen.

I'm hoping he is right.

The Bay is a great place to be in summer and there really are plenty of different things for everyone to do.

I would love to see Tauranga embrace this summer and all the events on offer.