Hey - I'm from Wellington, but lived in Newcastle for a couple of years, moving to Canada in a couple of months.

The warm parts of the UK are basically the same temperature as the cold parts of NZ. Southampton has like Dunedin weather. So you'll find it a bit cold and miserable up here. A big thing is how short the days are in the winter. It's never like Canada level freezing, but it's damp and dark, and summer never really "hits".

Big positive things is that it's a densely populated country with lots of infrastructure and lots of historical sites to visit. People will talk about the countryside here, and it's okay, but honestly you want to focus on what's particularly strong in the UK - if you wanted dramatic natural scenery, New Zealand is going to win there easily.

So: the downtown is quite fun, big mix of modern and international stuff with very old fashioned bits. For city stuff, the metro is good fun, and you can get a day pass that lets you take a ferry over the river too. Just exploring downtown is interesting - check out Grainger Market and the various museums, go for a walk down the river etc. There's also a little Chinatown area.

But there's also loads of castles and stuff that are very accessible. There's the big castle downtown - it's expensive but worth it if you're visiting - and you can pop into the cathedrals for a look around too. There's also Tynemouth Priory and Castle which is right on the coast and not far from the metro, and it's a great view. Hadrian's Wall also goes right through Newcastle so there's bits of Roman ruins just randomly between people's houses and on the side of the road - you can look up where to find the big sections on Google maps.

For food, there's lots of places, but do make sure you have Greggs just for the experience of it. Though one thing is that in NZ you can get greasy pies and great coffee in the same place, in the UK it's more like you'll get greasy sausage rolls in one shop but really basic coffee, and the good coffee with overpriced pastries will be in a different place.