Tips: New Zealand Sunburn and Avoiding the Lobster Look

Sunburns, sunscreen, a hole in the ozone layer and melanoma skin cancer. If you are in New Zealand or Australia, you need to be prepared to deal with sun exposure or ruin your whole vacation and end up looking like a wrinkly bright pink elephant.

English tourists vacationing Down Under are easy to spot. They are the colour of a boiled lobster from day two of their holiday and spend most of their trip hovering with their backs an inch from any surface in touch-avoidance mode and face screwed up in “I sucked a lemon” position. Hardly a recipe for fun.

North Americans don’t fare much better. You may be able to go sans sunscreen all day in the Mid-West and feel like a hard, manly cowboy, but trying that here will end in tears. You won’t feel so staunch when you are bending over to keep the stinging tears off your fried face.

Evidently in Northern Europe you can buy SPF 5 sunscreen. It is fascinating that people can be bothered.

Having a look at today’s UV Index Map, burn time is estimated to take LESS THAN 5 minutes for the whole of New Zealand. The UVI numbers range from 11 down in Invercargill and other points south to 13 in the Bay of Plenty and Bay of Islands. Auckland comes in at 12. Those numbers don’t sound terribly bad until you realize the coloured “peacock tail” indicator doesn’t even have numbers above 11 on it. So UV danger for today in almost all of New Zealand is “off of the scale.”

The eMedicine article on sunburn states:

The UV index was introduced in 1994 to forecast UVR intensity. UV index ratings and associated risks, based upon the estimated extent of exposure required to cause sunburn in a fair-skinned person, are as follows:

• 0-2 – Minimal risk (1-h exposure required to sunburn)
• 3-4 – Low risk (20-min exposure required to sunburn)
• 5-6 – Moderate risk (<15-min exposure required to sunburn)
• 7-9 – High risk (<10-min exposure required to sunburn)
• 10 or more – Extreme risk (<5-min exposure required to sunburn)

Why is UV danger so high in New Zealand? The experts suggest that our clean air, the hole in the ozone layer that hovers over us combined with the angle of the summer sun create perfect conditions for sunburn. Add a lot of fair skinned people of Northern European backgrounds and it is no surprise that New Zealand’s rate of melanoma is about 4x higher than the US, Canada and the UK

Here are a few tips to help you survive your Kiwi Vacation with skin intact.

1. 

   Protection from the Sun AND Parrots

   Wear a hat. Seriously. No, not a ball cap. The sun will be shining all around your head so get a wide brimmed hat. I know people in North America aren’t used to sporting such haberdashery, but you will be surrounded by sensible people in wide brimmed hats. I searched for three years to find a hat that was wide brimmed, didn’t blow off in the wind, fit my peanut head and didn’t make me look like the little old ladies of my Southern childhood pulling weeds in their garden a la Steel Magnolias. I found the Outdoor Research Nimbus Sombrero and my search was over. The Man wears this Aussie number.

2. Wear your sunscreen. Go for SPF 30 or higher. Read the label and you’ll notice it says to apply 15-30 minutes before sun exposure. An important detail when you have a burn time of less than 5 minutes. Reapply as directed, especially if you’ve been sweating profusely or swimming.
3. Stay in the shade as much as you can from 11am – 4pm. Yesterday I was outside in those peak burn hours with my wide brimmed hat and appropriately applied sunscreen. I got sunburned on my shoulders THROUGH MY CLOTHES. Right through my standard cotton t-shirt. Burned. Next time I’ll take an umbrella.
4. Wear UV blocking sun glasses. Protect those peepers and spare yourself the glare.
5. Beware of deceptive conditions. New Zealand summers are cool compared to North American summer temperatures. I’ve seen 80 degrees F twice in 5 years. Add a bit of wind or some cloud cover and you may think you are safe from the sun. Sorry, precautions still apply. Just because you feel cool doesn’t mean your skin isn’t being roasted. Remember that hole in the ozone and “Slip, Slop, Slap and Wrap” as the local skin health campaign goes. Slip on a shirt, slop on some sunscreen, slap on a hat, and wrap on your sunglasses.
6. Cover up when you aren’t in the water. Think sexy sundress, sarong or a t-shirt when you are lounging on the beach. Even gauzy materials will give you an extra bit of sun protection.

Don’t ruin your vacation with a nasy sunburn by thinking you are tougher than the NZ sun. Respect the conditions and enjoy your holiday!

Want a look at the UV Index archives for a US city close to you? Have a look here. If you know where I can find similar info for Europe or Canada, let me know. I couldn’t find a convenient source for aggregated archived data for either.