New Zealand, The Land of the Long White Cloud, The Shaky Isles or Aotearoa if you are Maori, beautiful, unpredictable and full of delights for the intrepid traveler.
Because of its remoteness New Zealand was one of the last places on earth to be settled, not just by Europeans but also by the natives from Polynesia and today New Zealand is a traveler’s delight.
New Zealand is made up of two main islands, the North Island and, would you believe it, the South Island and approximately 220 smaller islands and it is situated about 1,500 kilometers or 900 miles east of Australia and roughly 1,000 kilometers or 600 miles south of New Caledonia, Fiji and Tonga.
The main North and South Islands are separated by the Cook Strait which is 22 kilometers or 14 miles wide at its narrowest point.
Now, you already know how absurdly picturesque New Zealand is.
Lord of the Rings Trilogy
The Lord of the Rings trilogy, filmed so beautifully, shows off New Zealand to its best advantage.
If you’ve seen any of the movies and thought the scenery was an invention of some wonderfully imaginative mind, think again, it’s all real and it’s all New Zealand!
You can’t ignore New Zealand’s scenery but equally as alluring is New Zealand’s culture; it’s Maori heritage, New Zealanders passion for sport, her wonderful assortment of delicious wines all entice visitors from all corners of the globe.
And New Zealand doesn’t disappoint.
To all you adrenaline junkies it might seem as though New Zealand was invented just for you.
Bungee jumping, while not quite invented in NZ has become synonymous with a good New Zealand holiday, something you simply have to do.
Likewise jet boat racing, white water rafting, quad biking, mountain bike riding, hot air ballooning, snow skiing and so on.
So, whether you’re skydiving over a stunning patchwork of mountains and fields or climbing the Fox glacier, New Zealand is certain to get adrenaline coursing through your veins.
Holiday in New Zealand
Not that keen on risking life and limb to have a great holiday?
There is another side of New Zealand that keeps people coming back for more.
That’s New Zealanders!
Yes the people in New Zealand really are extremely friendly and genuinely want their visitors to have a good time.
Kiwis love sharing their spectacular country with visitors and in turn seeing it through foreign eyes.
They never tire of being reminded of the rugged beauty of their beaches, mountains, fiords, glaciers, native forests and thermal regions.
Just as in Australia the Aboriginal culture is an important part of the mix in New Zealand Maori culture plays an important part in everyday life with abundant opportunities for visitors to understand and experience both the history and present day forms of Maori life.
When you come to New Zealand make sure you allow sufficient travel time between your stops, distances are longer than you might think and many roads wind along the coast and through mountain ranges (particularly on the South Island).
It’s rewarding to tour for three or four weeks on each of the main islands, although you can certainly see some of the highlights in far less time.
Auckland, with a population of around 1.5 million people, is the largest city in New Zealand and has a large population of people from the many surrounding small pacific nations.
Indeed, many of the small pacific nations, such as the Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau, have more of their national population living in metropolitan Auckland than in their home islands! (NZ Government Statistics.)
This gives you, the intrepid traveler, the opportunity to experience some interesting ethnic shopping and eating, however, if you want to get to know the true New Zealand spend as little time as possible in Auckland as it is very different to the rest of the country.
When you holiday in New Zealand you’ll have the opportunity to experience two very different geographical regions.
The North Island with its mild (relatively speaking) temperatures and with scenery ranging from sandy beaches, through rolling farmland and forests to active volcanic peaks with bubbling mud pools and, of course, the South Island with much cooler conditions, especially in winter and its huge beech forests, great beaches, large glaciers, spectacular mountains and fords.
Whenever you come and wherever in New Zealand you go …………..enjoy.