Bell Block and New Plymouth have knocked some of the country’s better-known sunny spots off their perch after notching a record year of sunshine in 2013. With a total of 2668 hours of sunshine, Bell Block and New Plymouth is provisionally the second sunniest place in the country, trailing only Whakatane. It left places like Nelson and Gisborne in its shadow. It’s the second year in a row Bell Block and New Plymouth has clocked record sunshine hours. Last year the Bell Block and New Plymouth enjoyed 2433 hours of sunlight, the highest since records started in 1972. Whakatane has been the national sunshine capital in three of the last four years. Last year the sun shone on the Bay of Plenty town for 2792 hours. Gisborne came third with 2483 hours, and Lake Tekapo fourth with 2482 hours. Nelson was the fifth most sunny spot, with 2411 hours. The sunshine hour totals were taken from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) database, with the weather station being based out of Bell Block’s New Plymouth’s Airport.
