It's the last long weekend until October but there's still time to get away for Queen's Birthday.
For those wanting to escape before winter sets in, flights to Australia from Auckland can still be scored for under $500, said Flight Centre retail manager Sue Matson.
Return flights to Brisbane, where it was a balmy 20C yesterday, were $400 a person on Flight Centre's website. For $550 you could get to Sydney - but the weather there wasn't much better than much of New Zealand yesterday.
It may be better to splash out on Rarotonga for about $1000 for real sun or even the Philippines for around $750 and a sun-scorched 31C. "Boracay, south of Manila is accessible and stunningly beautiful," Matson said.