Countdown to summer starts

[MotherBear]

For those in the northern hemisphere, here's a little insight to how the seasons work in reverse.

Countdown to summer starts
By Vaimoana Tapaleao
4:00 AM Monday Jun 21, 2010

Today is the shortest day and the longest night of the year, and brings the winter solstice.

It is also widely known as Midwinter's Day, and from today, the days will begin to get longer and the nights shorter as summer draws closer.

There are 162 days until the first day of summer, on December 1.

Today, the sun will rise at 7.30am and set at 5.11pm - giving nine hours and 41 minutes of daylight.

The solstice also coincides with Matariki, the Maori New Year, which is being celebrated throughout the month around the country.

The appearance of the Pleiades star cluster heralds a new beginning and celebrates new life.

The shortest day of the year also brings a turn to the season, and the coldest temperatures of the year can now be expected.

Weather forecasters expect a gloomy day for most people today.

More here.

[markalex]

Tell me about school holidays? Do you have a long summer break/shorter easter winter breaks?

[MotherBear]

The term times for states schools can be found here so you would need to work out the holidays from that. They've changed the page for school holidays and it's not so user-friendly now.