Base Backpackers

New Zealand, also known in the native Maori language as Aotearoa, is a temperate to sub-tropical island nation in the South Pacific Ocean. A former British colony, it has a population mainly of European descent, with a sizeable indigenous Maori minority and smaller minorities of various Polynesian and other groups.

A modern but sparsely populated country, it boasts natural beauty and a wide range of outdoor and adventure activities.

[Edit] Islands

New Zealand consists of the two main islands, North and South, and a number of smaller ones:

• North Island - warm, with scenery ranging from sandy beaches, through rolling farmland and forests to active volcanic peaks with bubbling mud pools

• South Island - spectacular mountains and fjords, large beech forests, beautiful beaches, large glaciers

• Stewart Island - heavily forested, a wilderness paradise for trampers with wonderful bird song and the only place to a see a sun-bathing (feathered) kiwi on Masons Beach!

• Chatham Islands

• Sub-Antarctic Islands - very difficult to get to unless you're on a scientific expedition or deep sea fishing vessel

[Edit] Cities

It's the country that's magnificent in New Zealand and we only list nine of the most prominent settlements. Here they are from north to south:

North Island:

• Auckland - "The City of Sails" - largest and most populated conurbation, with over a million in the metropolitan area, making it the largest in Polynesia by far
• Hamilton - 128km south of Auckland, capital of the Waikato, home to the Chiefs (super 14 rugby) and the Magic ( ANZ cup netball). Leafy. Recently voted the world's fourteenth least cycle-friendly city (above Mexico City but below Jakarta).
• Tauranga - known for its great weather, sun and beach Tauranga is a great holiday spot.
• Rotorua - famous for Maori culture, geysers, hot pools and that funny "rotten egg" (sulphur dioxide) smell
• Wellington - the national capital, also known as "The Windy City" - Parliament and the Beehive and the wonderful, free Te Papa museum

South Island:

• Nelson - safe and friendly, with New Zealand's highest sunshine hours. Nelson is the geographic centre of the country and surrounded by THREE stunning national parks, vineyards and orchards
• Christchurch - The Garden City and the Air Gateway to Antarctica
• Queenstown - adrenalin and adventure capital of the world, where you can skydive, bungy jump, jet-boat, thrill yourself to your hearts content
• Dunedin - the Edinburgh of the South, proud of its Scots heritage, chocolate factory, Southern Albatross colony and its wonderful tramping tracks within a short drive from the CBD
• Invercargill - the southernmost city and one of the very few places to see a living Tuatara

[Edit] Climate

New Zealand has a temperate climate in the south island and sub-tropical climate in the North Island and the nature of the terrain, the prevailing winds and the length of the country lead to sharp regional contrasts. Temperatures sometimes exceed 30°C and fall below 0°C only in the elevated inland regions. Generally speaking, rainfall and humidity is higher in the west than the east of the country due to the north-south orientation of the mountain ranges and the prevailing westerly/north westerly winds.

Part situated in the "Roaring Forties", unsheltered areas of the country can get a bit breezy, especially in the centre, through Cook Strait and around Wellington. The winds seem to be stronger around the equinoxes. In the winter, southerly gales can be severe but they also bring snow to the ski-fields and are usually followed by calm clear days.ssssss

[Edit] See

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New Zealand scenery has long been a major tourist attraction, so spectacular it leaves many lost for words. You need to see it to understand, just describing it is not enough. Mind you, if you have seen some recent movies that were made in New Zealand, you probably have seen it and not realised. Those spectacular landscapes in the Lord of the Rings trilogy are based on New Zealand scenery. Sure they were computer enhanced, but only in places, and the real scenery is still there to be visited. Selected highlights are:

• Fiordland and Milford Sound - they built the road here, including a tunnel under the mountains, just for the tourists.
• Queenstown on the shores of Lake Wakatipu and with the other Southern Lakes in easy reach.
• Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers - in the Westland region.
• Mount Cook - New Zealand's highest mountain, in the heart of the Southern Alps.
• The Canterbury plains.
• Mount Ruapehu and Lake Taupo - volcanoes with lakes in them.
• White Island, one of New Zealand's more active volcanoes.
• Bay of Islands, where the Waitangi treaty house can be found and the place where New Zealand's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi, was signed. The copies are now held by the Archives New Zealand in Wellington.
• Ninety Mile Beach
• New Zealand Webcam

[Edit] Do

Outdoor and adventure activities include:

• Abseiling Waitomo
• Aerial sightseeing (helicopter and fixed-wing)
• Base jumping (Cable-controlled) [Skytower in Auckland]
• Birdwatching [1]
• Black water rafting (cave rafting)
• Boat Tours
• Bungy JumpQueenstown, Auckland, Lake Taupo - the modern bungy jump was invented here by New Zealander A.J. Hackett.
• Canoeing and kayaking on rivers and lakes
• Canyoning
• Caving Waitomo, Nelson, South Island West Coast, Te Anau
• Climbing
• Creative Tourism: Nelson. Christchurch and Waikato: Interactive workshops in Art, Maori Culture, Taste or Nature
• Cricket Tours: The company Crictours [2] organizes tours in New Zealand to discover or re-discover this amazing sport.
• Cycle touring [3]
• Diving
• Fishing - trout (some of the finest trout-fishing in the world), salmon, marlin, broadbill, sharks and many other salt-water species
• Fly by wire (invented here)
• Four-wheel driving
• Gliding - Omarama is one of the best places in the world for gliding
• Golf - New Zealand has over 400 registered golf courses, from local clubs to internationally renowned resorts, offering uncrowded golfing & superb scenery. Customised golfing tours for golfers & non playing partners [4]
• Hang-gliding
• Heli-hiking at Fox Glacier
• Hiking - New Zealand has a number of national parks and other wilderness and forested areas, much of which is managed by the Department of Conservation. The activity known in other countries as hiking, trekking or bushwalking is known as tramping in New Zealand and is a very popular activity for visitors and locals.
• Horse trekking
• Hot-air ballooning
• Hunting - several species of deer, wild pig (wild boar), tahr, chamois, goat, wallabies (they are protected in Australia but a pest here), gamebirds
• Ice-climbing
• Jetskiing
• Kite surfing
• Luge (on concrete not ice) Queenstown, Rotorua.
• Mountaineering - this was the training ground for Sir Edmund Hillary, one of the first two people to climb Mt Everest.
• Mountain biking
• Museums http://www.nzmuseums.co.nz/
• Nature tours
• Paragliding/Parapenting
• Quad biking
• Rafting
• Rap jumping
• River jetboating - the Hamilton jet was invented by New Zealander William Hamilton.
• Rockclimbing
• Rugby - the national game. New Zealand is hosting the next Rugby World Cup in Sep - Oct 2011 [5]
• Sailing - New Zealand has produced many world-champion yachties and is the only country apart from the US to have won and successfully defended yachting's ultimate prize, the America's Cup.
• Scuba diving and snorkeling, especially down to the sunken Rainbow Warrior at Matauri Bay, not far from Kerikeri.
• Sea kayaking [Abel Tasman Marine Reserve]

• Shark cage diving Kaikoura
• Skiing and snowboarding including heli-skiing Queenstown
• Skydiving
• Surfing
• Swimming with dolphins Kaikoura, Bay of Islands
• Swimming with seals
• Whale watching Kaikoura
• White water rafting Fox Glacier
• White water sledging / dam dropping
• Windsurfing
• Zorbing (invented here) Agrodome in Rotorua
• Zoos

There is more, but we are exhausted just thinking about it.