I anchored in AT bays on a few occasions in the late 80s - had a boat in Nelson. Memories of Tasman and Golden Bays and Cook Strait inc the heart rate!
Wondering off top of my head whether Sweden or NH is further from NZ. Rather go outside than check though:).
We were lucky to actually get the "officially last day of summer" (according to our boat skipper) for our first day of hiking. Really nice views of clear blue/green/turquoise water.
Our second day was cloudy and offered rain showers off and on for most of the day but still reasonably warm.