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Antipodes Island is one of the most isolated and least known of the New Zealand's Sub Antarctic Islands. Zodiac cruise the coastline to see the Antipodes Island parakeet and also the Red-crowned, which is a strong subspecies. Also see the Anti...
Categories: Antipodes Island
Auckland is regularly voted one of the best lifestyle cities in the world, with the cosmopolitan city centre complemented by great escapes within half an hour of downtown. Indulge in Auckland's shopping, nightlife and unrivalled cuisine and experienc...
Categories: Auckland
The Auckland Islands were uninhabited when discovered by a passing whaler in 1806 but in 1840 there were two separate efforts to establish permanent settlement. These two groups co-existed between 1849 and 1852. The Auckland Islands is also known ...
Categories: Auckland Islands
Rich in legend and history, the Bay of Islands is New Zealand's cradle of European civilization, with many points of interest relating to early European and Maori settlement. There are many "firsts" associated with the Bay of Islands, such as the fir...
Categories: Bay of Islands
Cruising
Categories: Bay of Plenty
The Bounty Islands are a small group of islands located off the coast of New Zealand. An ecotourist resort has been built off these islands near Fiji. This Bounty Island resort offers a wide range of activities and entertainment to choose from tha...
Categories: Bounty Islands
Categories: Breaksea Sound
Campbell Island is one of many remote islands declared a reserve for the preservation of flora and fauna under the continuing control of the Department of Conservation.
Categories: Campbell Island
Cape Brett is located on Piercy Island on the North Island coast in New Zealand. The Cape was discovered in 1769 by British explorer Captain James Cook and named after Admiral Percy Brett in his honor. The cape extends north into the Pacific Ocean an...
Categories: Cape Brett
Cape Reinga or Te Rerenga Wairua is the northwestern most tip of the Aupouri Peninsula in North Island, New Zealand. Te Rerenga Wairua means ‘leaping-off place of spirits’ in the Maori language. Cape Reinga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site...
Categories: Cape Reinga
From New Zealand head east into the open Pacific Ocean. After about 700 miles there will be an isolated group of ten small islands. Two of these are inhabited: Chatham Island, the largest of the group, and Pitt Island. The Islands are the home of ...
Categories: Chatham Island
Cruising
Categories: Coromandel Peninsula
One of New Zealand’s loveliest harbors is gracious, dignified Dunedin. The city boasts fine Victorian and Edwardian buildings complete with spires, gables and gargoyles. Its Scottish heritage is present in street names and the appeal of its handsome ...
Categories: Dunedin
Categories: Elephant Rock
Categories: Foveaux Strait
Gisborne is best known as being the first city in the world to greet the sun each day. Located on the sunny East Coast of the North Island, Gisborne has a lot of activities to offer visitors. There are numerous botanical gardens and arboretums to ex...
Categories: Gisborne
Positioned as a guardian for the inner waters of New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf, Great Barrier Island is 55 mi/90 km from downtown Auckland, a 30-minute flight or nearly five hours by ferry. Fullers Ferries operates a faster, passenger-only service in su...
Categories: Great Barrier Island
Hamilton has many excellent attractions, providing visitors with a wide range of beautiful, natural areas to enjoy including the some of New Zealands most visited attractions, the Hamilton City Gardens and the Hamilton Zoo. Hamilton has plenty of qu...
Categories: Hamilton New Zealand
Categories: Hawke's Bay
Matamata is home of the original Hobbiton village set from “The Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy. A guided tour of the site will showcase details on the creation of the Hobbiton set. Whether you have seen the movies or not, you will find the story an...
Categories: Hobbiton Village
Categories: Kaltaia
Categories: Kapiti Island
Kawau Island lies off the east coast of the southern end of the Northland Peninsula of North Island. It is a popular yacht haven and home to many expensive holiday homes. Visit the Mansion House with its grounds stocked with exotic flora and fauna in...
Categories: Kawau Island
Categories: Kerikeri
Categories: Lake Tarawera
Categories: Marsden Point
Martinborough New Zealand is located in the Wairarapa region in the south-east of New Zealand’s North Island. The region is renowned for it wineries.
Categories: Martinborough
Categories: Masterton
Categories: Matamata
Matauri Bay is home of the famous Lodge at Kauri Cliffs, the luxury lodge and award-winning golf course on Matauri Island. Matauri Bay, just north of the Bay of Islands, offers a picturesque location with views of the Cavalli Islands, and is popular ...
Categories: Matauri Bay
Categories: Mercury Islands
Categories: Musgrave Inlet
Categories: Mystery Explorer
The twin cities of Napier and Hastings, located within the region of Hawke's Bay on the East Coast of new Zealand's North Island, are quite unique. The area is blessed with a Californian-Mediterranean climate, boasting one of the highest sunshine ave...
Categories: Napier
New Plymouth has an unlimited range of tourist attractions and activities, located throughout the area. Whether you are looking for adrenaline-pumping adventure, or a relaxing hike, there is an activity or attraction to suit everyone's tastes an...
Categories: New Plymouth
Brought to you by Tourism New Zealand
Amazing new experiences are just one flight away.
New Zealand is a destination where everything’s close - dramatic natural scenery that will dazzle you with movie set good looks, adventures around every corne...
Categories: Asia Pacific > South Pacific
Categories: Oban New Zealand
Categories: Ohakea
Omarama is a small town fringed by dramatic mountain landscapes and waterways, known world-wide for its prime hang-gliding conditions and for the landscape of clay cliffs nearby.
Categories: Omarama
Just north of North Island, Paihia was founded by Henry Williams and his wife, Marianne in 1823. This town is known for its many "firsts of New Zealand" such as: the first church, the first game of cricket played and the first printing pres...
Categories: Paihia
Categories: Pakatoa Island
Categories: Palliser Bay
Categories: Palmerston North
Located in the North Island of New Zealand, Pauanui would have to be amongst the most beautiful spots in the world. Nestled in the East Coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, east of Thames and on the southern side of the Tairua Harbour, Pauanui is essen...
Categories: Pauanui
Raetihi also meaning "headland summit" sits between the Waimarino plain and the Whanganui National Park. Founded in 1893, Raetihi relied on the Whanganui River to access the road. 15 years later a road was built and connected the gap from R...
Categories: Raetihi
Categories: Rangiauria
Categories: Raumati
New Zealand's premier destination on the edge of beautiful Lake Rotorua offers visitors so much to see and do the trouble is deciding what to do. From a quiet stroll through the magnificent Redwood Forest to an adrenaline rafting plunge over one of t...
Categories: Rotorua
Categories: Russell
The Snares Islands are a subantarctic island group that became UNESCO World Heritage in 1998, because of the unique flora and fauna. The Snares lie south of Bluff, New Zealand's southernmost city. The Snares are considered as so called "m...
Categories: Snares Islands
Categories: Solander Islands
Categories: South Island
Located 20 miles from mainland New Zealand, Stewart Island’s attractions lie in its virtually untouched beauty and unhurried pace. To the Maori people who have lived on the island for hundreds of years, the island is known as Rakiura, meaning “heav...
Categories: Stewart Island
Categories: Tasman Bay
At the heart of the volcanic plateau in the North Island lies Lake Taupo, New Zealand's largest lake and popular destination for water sports, fishing, relaxing, soaking in hot pools and skiing during the winter months.
Categories: Taupo
Located 56 mi/90 km north of Auckland, this open sanctuary incorporates recreation, farming and conservation activities in one area. A predator-proof fence runs across the peninsula to keep rats and other rodents out and to allow kiwi and other endan...
Categories: Tawharanui Open Sanctuary
Categories: Te Awanga
This 544-acre/220-hectare island is 75 minutes by boat from downtown Auckland. In the Hauraki Gulf, it is one of New Zealand's greatest conservation success stories. The island was farmed for generations, overrun with rats and other introduced pests,...
Categories: Tiritiri Matangi Island
Categories: Tokelau
Tongariro National Park has grown to a size of nearly 197,688 acres. The area is of religious and cultural importance to the Maoris who believed the region’s mountains had god-like ancestors, and the core of the park centers around three active volc...
Categories: Tongariro National Park
Categories: Turangi
Centrally located approximately 90 minutes from Auckland, Tauranga and Rotorua, the region of Waikato can be a base for any holiday in New Zealand’s Central North Island. The Waikato is a region of lush, green hills, bush and farmland, with excepti...
Categories: Waikato
Make the right connection with Wairakei. Set amidst beautiful parklands in the thermal heartland of New Zealand, Wairakei is recognized as one of New Zealand’s premier resort locations. Discover a private oasis in a picturesque setting. Escape from a...
Categories: Wairakei
Wairarapa which also means "Glistening Waters" is located on the corner of the North Island of Wellington, New Zealand. It's a city of contemporary country life bordered by the rugged Tararua Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Break free ...
Categories: Wairarapa
Waitomo, in the central North Island, is an area renowned for limestone caves, glowworms, adventure and fun, and is a place not to be missed. The name Waitomo comes from the Maori wai, water and tomo, hole or shaft. Activities centre around a small v...
Categories: Waitomo
Categories: Wanganui
Located at southwestern North Island, New Zealand’s capital city derives its character and charm from the wooded hills that curve like a green amphitheater around Wellington’s harbor. Commercial and government buildings rim the waterfront; nostalgic ...
Categories: Wellington
Categories: Whakapapa
Whanganui National Park was shaped by the Whanganui River that winds down from the mountains to the Tasman Sea shaping its hills, forests, valleys and terraces. 600 years ago the Maori natives originating from Polynesia used the 290-km Whanganui Rive...
Categories: Whanganui National Park
Whangarei, 105 mi/170 km north of Auckland on New Zealand's North Island, is a good base for exploring the island's northern region. Whangarei Heads offers secluded bays, and within a 45-minute drive are beautiful sandy beaches such as Whale Bay, Mat...
Categories: Whangarei
New Zealanders sometimes refer to their country as "God Zone," a rather prideful twist on the phrase "God's Own." But if you like gorgeous scenery and gutsy people, you'll agree with them. New Zealand is blessed with some of the most varied and dramatic terrain in the world—from glaciers, fjords and beaches to mountains, meadows and rain forests, known to New Zealanders as "native bush." If you're so inclined, you can admire the breathtaking scenery while skiing, surfing, horseback riding, mountain climbing, hiking (which the locals call "tramping") or kayaking.
And if those pursuits aren't exciting enough, you can try some of the adventures the Kiwis (as New Zealanders are called) have invented: You can bungee jump off cliffs or bridges; paddle through white-water rapids; rocket through narrow caverns on jet boats; or strap yourself inside a giant plastic ball and roll down a hillside.
If you prefer more leisurely activities, you can still enjoy New Zealand's natural wonders by strolling on its pristine beaches, sailing along its picturesque coastline or fishing in its crystal clear rivers and lakes.
Geography
New Zealand consists of two large islands (called the North Island and the South Island), as well as numerous small islands. Both major islands are mountainous with coastal plains. The North Island is more populated and has a warmer, temperate climate, along with vigorous geothermal areas and active volcanoes. The South Island has a more open, spacious feel with spectacular fjords, glaciers, agricultural plains, and hundreds of streams and lakes. History
Many historians designate 800-1350 as a likely time frame for the Maori (pronounced MAU-ree) settlement of New Zealand. The Maori called their new home Aotearoa (Land of the Long White Cloud), and their oral history recounts how they took a large fleet of canoes from a place called Hawaiiki (perhaps a set of islands in French Polynesia) to sail to what is now New Zealand. For hundreds of years, Maori life went untouched by the outside world. They had spectacularly elaborate body and face tattoos and maintained a culture of fishing, hunting and gathering. Rival tribes warred with one another, and the battles often resulted in the losers being eaten or enslaved by the victors.
The next epoch in the islands' history opened in 1642, when Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sighted the land and called it "Niuew Zeeland." He charted part of the coastline but left without officially claiming it after some of his men were killed by Maori. Some 130 years later, Capt. James Cook claimed the islands for the British crown. He circumnavigated both main islands, which he mapped with an accuracy that is still admired (and used) today.
Once European settlement began in earnest, the introduction of muskets and other weapons to the Maori led to fierce intertribal wars, which—in addition to new European diseases—nearly wiped out their population. Calm ensued by the 1830s, however, and in 1840, a conditional alliance between the Maori and the British, called the Treaty of Waitangi, acknowledged British sovereignty in exchange for some Maori land rights. Despite being signed by more than 500 Maori chiefs, it was a controversial document. It was only after several subsequent decades of bloody war over these land rights that an easier coexistence—which persists to this day—evolved.
From the 1860s to the 1880s, gold fever drew thousands of prospectors to New Zealand. About the same time, large sheep farms began to be established on land cleared from the native forests. The country became autonomous in 1907 and is today an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Snapshot
Everyone should visit New Zealand at least once. The country's foremost attractions include great natural beauty, mountains and glaciers, rain forests, beaches, bright blue skies, fjords, fishing, sailing, surfing, scuba diving, skiing, golf, hiking, thermal baths, wildlife and sheep, friendly people, Maori culture, vineyards and fresh seafood. Potpourri
There are 33.9 million sheep in New Zealand, a major reduction from the peak of nearly 70 million in 1981.
Sir Edmund Hillary, a New Zealander, and his Sherpa fellow climber, Tenzing Norgay, were the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953.
In 1893, New Zealand became the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.
Fiordland National Park stretches out for nearly 3 million acres/1.2 million hectares.
The flightless, herbivorous moa is New Zealand's most famous extinct bird. There were several types, with the largest reaching heights of 14 ft/3.5 m and weighing more than 450 lbs/200 kg. Their flesh was an important part of the Maori diet; they were killed off by over-hunting long before Europeans arrived.
Manukau City to the south of Auckland has about 160 ethnic groups based there.
The All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby team, is revered worldwide for its skill and the intimidating Maori haka, a warrior dance used to begin each match. In 2011, the All Blacks won the Rugby World Cup at the tournament held in New Zealand.
According to Maori legend, New Zealand's North Island was a great fish hooked by Maui, a heroic demi-god figure who appears in many Maori legends. The South Island was his canoe and Stewart Island his anchor. Therefore the North Island's name in Maori is Te Ika a Maui, the fish of Maui, and Stewart Island Te Puka o te Waka a Maui, the anchor stone of the canoe of Maui. And while the South Island is thought of as Maui's waka, or canoe, its name is Te Wai Ponamu, the waters of Ponamu (or greenstone) in acknowledgment of places on the island where the deep-green stone, valued for weapons, tools and ornaments, was sourced.
Our favorite place name in New Zealand is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu, a coastal hill 60 mi/95 km south of Napier, on the North Island. The name is shortened to Taumata in conversation. It means, "The brow of a hill where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed and swallowed mountains, known as the Land Eater, played his flute to his lover."
The kiwi is a flightless native bird about the size of a large chicken and, relative to its body size, lays the largest egg of any bird—up to 20% of its body weight. There are six varieties of kiwi; females are always larger and more aggressive than the males. They are active at night, sniffing out worms using tiny nostrils at the end of their long beaks.
New Zealand's Antipodes Islands (from the Greek anti—opposite—and podes—feet) are so named because, on a globe, they are almost precisely opposite England.
When people say kia ora (pronouned kee-a or-a), they are offering an informal greeting in Maori that can be used instead of hello.
New Zealand's "living dinosaur," the Tuatara lizard, has a third eye, an organ under its skin in the middle of the head, which is sensitive to light.