New Zealand is located in the South Pacific, just off Australia, and often referred to as the "land of the long white cloud."
While it is a geographically small country - touring the entire country in a camper van is very popular - it has incredible variety. You can sunbathe on the beach, ski in the Alps, or just about anything in between. It is also fascinating for its Maori culture and history.
Mount Cook
New Zealand is famous for its scenery and became very popular with Tourists recently because it was the setting for the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. The beautiful New Zealand landscapes used in Lord of the Rings are just one side to New Zealand; fantastic fjords are equally inspiring.
While its scenery is probably the main tourist attraction it also has some very beautiful cities, including its capital Auckland, Wellington, and the tourist capital of Queenstown. New Zealand is actually two different islands, with the capital Auckland in the North Island and the tourist capital Queenstown in the South Island. Perhaps the most popular national park is Mount Cook on the South Island. I personally have fond memories of Mount Cook as this was my first helicopter ride, to the summit of Mount Cook; an experience not to be missed if you are there.
While Auckland is the largest city and major international airport, the capital of New Zealand is actually Wellington. Another popular tourist destination is Rotorua, famous for its hot springs.
A major attraction is the prestigious yachting event, the America's Cup. Other favourites in Auckland all year round are Kelly Charlton's Underwater World and the Antarctic Encounter. Auckland also boasts a great zoo, botanical Gardens, and a National Maritime Museum
New Zealand is a country where reality surpasses imagination. This green and pleasant land reveals its extensive charms as we make our leisurely way around the two islands, with such lively diversions as steamship and marine-life cruises, exploration of protected forests rich in colourful birdlife, mountain ranges, glow-worm caves, geysers and thermal pools.
Our journey includes stays in some of the world's most dazzling harbour cities. On the way we sample local customs and hospitality, from the Scots community to the sheep farmers, the native Maori culture, and the country's justly famous wines.
With top quality hotels and first class coaches to give you that pampered feeling and flights with award-winning Air New Zealand, the holiday concludes with a stay in the secluded and charming Bay of Islands, known as the cradle of New Zealand.
ExplorerGirls.com's Courtney Crow conquers one of Queenstown, New Zealand's main attractions.
The Shotover Canyon Swing is the world's largest swing standing 109m tall with a 60m/200ft freefall and 200m arc launching your body at speeds up to 150kph over sharp rocks and the Shotover River. No wonder they have a dirty underwear ratings for each style of jump from the platform you can choose.
For Courtney's first jump she chose to go backwards into the Canyon. (If that looks scary, you have to check out jump #2) To find out more info on this adventure and a personal blog about the experience head over to www.explorergirls.com. To book your own Canyon Swing excursion check out www.canyonswing.co.nz.
Me and my family want to go to New Zealand for vacation. We're in California and what I want to know is: Where I can find the cheapest prices for roundtrip flight tickets and for good New Zealand discount hotels to stay in? Where are the best places to go and visit in New Zealand? I hear the south island is the best to visit. We'd only be staying there for a week or so, so I want a places that we'd have time to visit. Thank you so much in advanced. I've been wanting to visit New Zealand for ages now.
With respect to prices for tickets, you really are best off discussing that with a trusted travel agent. For hotels, I would suggest looking at something like www.lastminute.co.nz: NZ runs on a fairly standard 'star' system when it comes to accom., so you'll be pretty safe just looking up hotels in whatever regions you decide to visit.
As for places to go, NZ is fantastic wherever you visit. I'm Australian, but have visited many times (it is just over the ditch, after all). It entirely depends on what you're interested in, however. Queenstown (on the south island) is beautiful and well known for the adventure tours. It's close to Milford Sound, which I recommend as a 'must do' on the south island: it's absolutely spectacular. You can get bus tours from Q'town which include a boat trip in the sound.
If you're going in winter and enjoy the snow, q'town is excellent for that, too. Christchurch, also on the south island, is a lovely town. Way down south is dunedin, which is almost dead when university is on break, but is still great fun - if you can get there when the rugby is on, get tickets North island: Auckland cops a lot of flak from the locals, but is actually a great city.
The bay of islands, way up north, is great for beachy type activities, or just for lounging around. It's also basically where europeans signed an important treaty with the indigenous population (the treaty of waitangi), which has great signifcance.
Wellington has a great museum: it's worth driving up to the lookout over wellington for the view at night. It's windy, though Napier is a small but beautiful town: it was flattened by an earthquake in the thirties, so the whole place was rebuilt at once in the art deco style. If you're into art deco, it's unmissable.
Rotorua is a very interesting place, with mud pools, hot springs and geysers. It;s the most popular tourist destination in nz. It's also a base to go on some tours of 'maori villages' which, though very, very touristy, are still quite interesting and worthwhile. These are probably the places that most tourists visit: while there's many more 'secret' places, if you've only got one visit, most people would choose from these - and just because theyre 'touristy', doesn't mean they're not fabulous
i want to for my honeymoon in new zealand can please suggest me any package from dubai or india for july?
in that package please include New Zealand budget accommodation . it should be there everything. for package i want for 4 to 5 days only
If you intend to visit for only four or five days then you will have to target a particular area and concentrate your sightseeing there. Without knowing what you like to do, it is difficult to suggest an area. For such a short trip, two main areas come to mind. The Rotorua area (North Island) is good for Maori culture and geo thermal activity. In the South Island, the West Coast for scenery, glaciers, and historical settlements. The major cities are Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington; but a city is a city is a city......... Remember that July is the middle of winter here in NZ. It will be cold!!! particularly relative to Dubai or India. If you're a skier or you like snow then the Queenstown area will be of interest (South Island again). If you want cheap then camp sites are generally of a good standard and have a range of cabin grades to suit most budgets. For such a short period you may find joining a tour is the simplest and most effective way of seeing things. For ideas take a look at: http://www.newzealand.com/English/ http://www.scenicpacific.co.nz/ http://www.nztours.co.nz/ http://www.newzealandtours.net.nz/ http://www.letsgo.co.nz/ or simply goodle/yahoo a search on New Zealand tours
North island: Auckland cops a lot of flak from the locals, but is actually a great city.